To Dance Among The Skies
by Aerith The Evenstar
Summary: Valerie Smith is friends with Alexis and has always been fascinated by the sky, and is taking ballet lessons. But she finds a Mini-Con panel and everything to the point that it even changes her life in the process. Please Remember To Review.
1. Practice and…Wait! GIANT ROBOTS?

ATE: Hey everyone! As you can see I have a new story called 'To Dance Among The Skies'. Originally I was going to call this story 'Sky Dancer' but saw that name was already taken when I looked through the Tranformers/Beast Wars archive. So this story is called what it's called because of this. Also the original concept of this chap was much more sloppy than what this turned out. As it there were bits here and there that weren't there but were added in at the last minute as I typed this up. So yeah, this is my attempt at writing a Transformers Armada fanfic. Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada (don't we all wish that we did?). I do, however own my OC Valerie.

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**To Dance Among The Skies**

Chapter 1: Practice and…Wait! GAINT ROBOTS?

Have you ever found yourself looking up at the sky at times? I always did. Ever since I was little. Whenever I would look up at the sky, day or night, I always felt at peace. Sometimes I wished I could fly into the vast endless sky, but I knew it wasn't possible for humans to fly.

"Valerie Smith."

My head whipped up to where Mrs. Henry was. She looked at me expectantly, causing me to wonder what she had said earlier.

"The problem, please." She told me, as if reading my mind.

I realized that she had written a math problem on the board and I quickly went up to write the answer with a piece of powdery white chalk. Once I finished I placed the chalk down before looking at Mrs. Henry. She gave me a look of approval before allowing me to sit down.

I was about to sit down when the bell rang, indicating that both class and school were over for the day. I gathered my things and was ready to leave when my friend Alexis came up to me.

"Hey, Valerie. Are you glad it's Friday?" She asked me.

"Yeah! I have to go to practice today." I told her.

"We're still having the sleep-over, right?"

"You bet."

I followed Alexis out into the hallway where I found her talking to Rad and Carlos. Even though I told her that I had practice Alexis didn't know what it was I was practicing. I had been taking ballet lessons for almost a year now and I could say I was okay at it. I just needed more practice in order to get better. Why didn't I tell Alexis about me taking ballet? I wasn't really sure myself. I just…didn't want them to know. Maybe it was because I wasn't sure what they would think. But still…I kinda felt guilty for not telling her.

I left the school after placing everything in my locker. Since I had everything I needed for practice I chose to walk, taking the shortcut I always took through the park. One minute I was walking and the next I found myself on the ground. Groaning, I lifted myself up and looked behind me to see what I tripped over to find what looked like a panel with a 'M' on it. I picked it up and realized it was as big as a text book.

"What is this?" I asked myself quietly.

I looked around to see if anyone was looking. I didn't have to worry since nobody was here so I took off my back pack and decided to place the panel in it before zipping it back up. I thought of showing it to Alexis when I got out of ballet practice. Either way I still had to get there.

_(1 hour later)_

I was sitting in the locker room after practice and placing my ballet stuff in my bag after getting changed, zipping my back pack close before rushing for the exit. I wanted to get home as quickly as possible so I could get my stuff for the sleep-over.

"Valerie!"

I stopped before turning around to find my ballet instructor Ms. Sanders standing behind me. Ms. Sanders had a youthful appearance (looking to be about 27 to me) and had her dark hair pulled back in a bun from practice earlier. She gazed at me with her brown eyes, giving me the impression of a compassionate mother. Or maybe it was an expression that a proud teacher gave her students? I wasn't sure which.

"Yes, Ms. Sanders?" I asked.

"Over the past 6 months I've noticed that you've started to improve. However, I've also noticed that you seem…hesitant whenever you move." She said.

I sighed, lowering my gaze to the floor, some of my ash blonde hair (which was a bit past my shoulders) getting in my face.

"I know. I…feel like such a klutz whenever I dance. I want to be as graceful as you, Ms Sanders. I really do!"

"Valerie." Ms. Sanders placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to look up at her. "You're not a klutz. You may fall down a few time, but that doesn't mean you haven't been able to get back up. With enough practice and motivation you'll someday be able to dance with a gracefulness of your own. I know you can do it." She gave me a smile. "I'll give you some advice. Try practicing you dance moves at home or wherever you feel comfortable. Listen to some music if you want to while doing so. Do you think you can do that?"

"I guess…I could do that."

"Good. Just take it one step at a time and you'll do fine."

"Thank you, Ms. Sanders."

With that I left the building and started heading home. As I walked through the park my back started to feel warm and I realized it was coming from my bag. I quickly took it off and unzipped it to find the panel glowing.

"What the…? Why is it glowing?" I asked.

Suddenly I felt the ground give a great tremor, which caused me to lose my balance and fall to the ground. I looked up, only to have my eyes widen at what I saw! Robots.

Giant.

Robots.

As in more than one. As in plural. There were 4 of them, the tallest one having what appeared to be horns on his head, another one having weird eyes (one being bigger than the other), another having what looked like helicopter propellers on his back, and the last one having the wings of jet plane. The only thing they all had in common was a purple mark on them.

My mind was screaming at me to run but my leg weren't cooperating. I held the panel close to my chest.

"Ah, so you have it." The horned robot said in a deep voice. "Hand over the Mini-Con if you want to live, human."

It was then and there that my legs decided to listen to my mind and I started running away as fast as I could while screaming my head off. From behind me I heard the robot shouting 'After her!' before I heard something to a jet and helicopter flying behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw a jet and helicopter chasing after me, the latter started shooting at me!

"Holy shit!" I yelled, narrowly missing a shot that had been close to my side.

Suddenly I ran into something _hard_, causing me to fall onto my back and hit my head. Oww… I opened my eyes, only to have them widen when I saw a giant yellow robot staring down at me. I screamed and quickly (to my surprise) got up to run away before running into something else, this time feeling hands on my shoulders.

"Valerie?"

I opened my eyes, gasping in surprise when I saw Alexis standing in front of me wearing a orange jumpsuit, along with Rad and Carlos coming up to us wearing the same thing.

"Alexis?" I asked, surprised and confused. "What are you doing here? What are Rad and Carlos doing here? And what's up with the jumpsuits?"

"It's kinda complicated, but we'll try to explain." Alexis told me.

"We know you're terrified so you have to listen." Rad said.

"O-okay."

"The giant robots that were chasing you are the bad guys." Alexis pointed to the horned robot as an example.

"But the yellow robot you just ran into is one of the good guys." Carlos pointed to the yellow robot that was now fighting against the robot with the weird eyes.

"Do you see the red symbol on him?" Alexis asked.

That was when I noticed the red symbol on the yellow robots left shoulder (although I couldn't tell what it looked like).

"Y-yeah." I replied.

"Any robots with a red symbol like that are the good guys." She told me.

"So the ones with the purple symbol are the bad guys?"

"Exactly! They're fighting for the Mini-Con that activated in this area." Rad stated.

"Mini…Con?" I said it slowly.

"Yeah! It's that panel you're holding onto." Carlos said.

I looked down at the panel…the Mini-Con I held in my arms. These robots where fighting all because of this? Was it that important? Was it so important that they had to fight to the death just to get it?

"Take it!" I cried, holding the Mini-Con out to Alexis. She gave me a surprised look. "I don't want anything to do with this anymore! I-I can't handle this!"

"But Valerie-!"

The ground shook with a slight tremor and I spun around to find a blue, orange, and white robot with orange wing shaped antennas on the sides of his head kneeling done close to us. I started shaking and was about to run away until I noticed the red symbol on his chest. Now that I saw it the red symbol reminded me of a robotic looking face.

"The Mini-Con." He said in a calm deep voice.

He held one of his big hands out in front of me as if waiting for me to place something in it. I looked back up to his face, then his hand before going back to his face once more. I held the panel out and placed it in his hand.

"Y-you're a good guy…" I said, barely above a whisper.

Whether he heard me or not the blue robot didn't say anything to acknowledge it. I watched in fear as the robots fought each other. That was when I noticed the other robots with the red symbols. Besides the yellow robot and the blue one I just encountered, there was also a tall red and blue robot (although he wasn't as tall as the horned robot that he was currently fighting). There was a green and purple robot helping the yellow robot as he fought against the weird eyed one, while in the sky fighting both the helicopter propeller robot (which was currently a…well, helicopter) and the jet robot was a bulky looking robot that was white and red and had wings from what I could see.

The Mini-Con I had handed to the blue robot had been replaced with a tiny robot which transformed into…I wasn't sure what it was from where I was, but after awhile of fighting the horned robot (and his lackeys) looked worn out and seemed to be losing before deciding to retreat. To my surprise they disappeared on the spot, leaving the good robots behind. The bulky robot that had been fighting in the sky came down to stand next to the red and blue robot.

"Good work, men!" The red and blue robot said. He turned to the blue and orange robot. "And good job for finding the Mini-Con, Blurr."

"I wasn't the one who found it." The blue and orange robot, Blurr, stated.

"Oh, c'mon, Blurr! No need to be so modest." The yellow robot said jokingly.

"The human femme found it."

Suddenly all the robots turned to where Alexis, Rad, Carlos and I were, but the attention was all on me. I felt uneasy from all the attention as the robots came over to where we were. I started shaking again and I tried so hard not to, but I was scared despite the fact that my friend told me they were the good guys. If you were standing in front of not just one giant robot, but 5 giant robots then you'd feel the same way. Or maybe it was just me.

"Hey, you're the one who ran into my leg." The yellow robot said, recognizing me. "Your not hurt, are you?"

I didn't answer, unsure of what to say. I tried to open my mouth to say something, but I was unable to voice my thoughts.

"Are you okay, miss?" The red and blue robot asked me, sounding genuinely concerned.

It was then and there that I did the last thing I wanted to do in front of anyone. I fainted.

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ATE: This concludes chap 1 of 'To Dance Among The Skies'. I'll admit it's been awhile since I've watched Tranformers Armada (the last time being when I watched it on Toonami when I was in elementary school) so I've started rewatching it on youtube in order to get caught up again. Please remember to review and if you would like give me any ideas you would want to see in any future chaps of this story and I'll give anyone credit for their ideas.


	2. Meeting the Autobots

ATE: Hey everyone! I finally got chap 2 done and everything. I wanna thank **lilyou22** and **DarkButterfly128 **for their reviews on the first chap of this story. Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers in any way, shape, or form. And I definitely don't own iPod (but I was listening to mine as I wrote this chap) or the toys called Sky Dancers. But I am the proud owner of my OC Valerie.

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Chapter 2: Meeting the Autobots

Consciousness started returning to me and I slowly opened my eyes to find myself staring at a ceiling that was so…high…up. My head was throbbing slightly and I brought a hand up to it, only for my fingertips to brush against cloth. Was my head wrapped up? I sat up and found myself on top of a platform of sort. The room was so huge that I thought I somehow shrunk in size. I felt…small.

'_Wh_e_re am I?_' I thought.

"Valerie! You're okay."

I turned my head in the direction the voice came from and found Alexis next to me (I'm not sure how I didn't notice her in the first place), along with Rad, Carlos, and the addition of Billy and Fred.

"Alexis. I'm so glad to see you." I said. "I had the weirdest dream ever. You, Rad and Carlos were in it, too. And there were-"

Suddenly I saw the one thing that I was about to say standing in front of me.

"-giant robots…"

I suddenly fainted.

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I woke up again to find myself in the same place and I saw my friends gazing down at me.

"Hey, guys." I said. "I fainted, didn't I?"

"You did. We want you to meet some of our friends so please don't faint again." Rad told me.

"I'll try not to." I sat up.

"Okay. Red Alert, you can let the others in."

"Will do." A metallic voice said.

I looked in the direction the voice came from to see a giant blue robot with what looked like a red visor covering his eyes. He went over to a large door and it slid open to allow the robots I had seen into the room, along with another one I didn't recognize. The one I didn't recognize was the orange robot with red eyes.

"It's good to see you're awake." The red and blue robot said as he came closer to the platform. "How are you feeling?"

"Other than my head, I'm fine." I replied.

"Good. I'm Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots." He turned to the other robots behind him. "Everyone, I'd like you all to introduce yourselves."

"I'm Hot Shot!" The yellow robot said. "You…literally ran into me earlier."

"Blurr." The blue and orange robot I remembered from earlier said.

"I am Red Alert, the medic." The blue robot with the red visor said. "I wrapped your head up, if you were wondering."

" I'm Scavenger." The green and purple one said. "I'm considered a trainer of sort."

"Smokescreen." The orange bot said.

"The name's Jetfire, lil lady!" The bulky white robot said.

I felt my face heat up slightly at the 'lil lady' comment, but quickly recovered as I looked at all the robots in front of me. I smiled, knowing for sure they wouldn't harm me and felt more at ease around them. If my friends trusted them, why shouldn't I?

"I'm Valerie." I told them. "So what are you guys, anyways?"

Optimus told me about the transformers (along with why they were called that in the first place), and how the Autobots were the good guys while the Decepticons (their leader being Megatron, who happened to be the horned robot I had seen) were the bad guys. I learned about their war over the Mini-Cons and that Megatron wanted to conquer the universe with them. And now I was drawn into their war along with Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred. Optimus made me promise not to tell a living soul about the transformers and what I learned, to which I more than willingly agreed to.

"Good. Any comments?" Optimus asked.

"This is a bit overwhelming." I told him. I turned to Alexis, who was sitting beside me. "So are we still having that sleep over?"

"Yes, but since you know about the transformers we could have it here instead. Are you okay with that?"

"Am I okay with that? Of course! I wouldn't pass an opportunity like this for anything." It was then that I remembered something. "Where's my bag?"

"It's right here." Red Alert answered, retrieving my bag and giving it to me.

"Thanks. You didn't look inside it, did you?"

"No. Why?" He brought his face closer to the platform so that I would has to strain my neck. "Are you hiding something illegal inside it?"

"N-no! Nothing illegal at all!"

"Then what's inside it?"

"Stuff."

Red Alert just stared at me, making me shift a bit from feeling uneasy. I knew he wanted a better answer.

"Fine! It has my things for practice."

"Practice?"

"She's involved in an activity she goes to every Friday after school." Alexis stepped in to help me. "Now I have a feeling you don't want to be coped up in the med bay, so we might as well show you around the base."

So Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred showed me around the base and I even got to meet the other Mini-Cons in the process (now that I got a closer look at them without having my life in danger they were cute looking, as in stuffed teddy bear cute). The place was huge but it was understandable because of the big size of the transformers here at the base. The cool thing was that there was a room everyone could go and relax in for both humans and transformers alike (I think it was called the 'rec room' if I remembered correctly).

By the time the tour was over Fred started to complain that he was hungry and luckily there was food for us to eat. We stayed up late talking about things, but I think I fell asleep during a conversation since I woke up to the sound of people snoring. Sitting up I could see that the snoring was coming from Carlos, Fred, and Billy. Why wasn't I surprised? I looked at my watch, pressing a button that lit up the screen, only to groan mentally when I saw it was 6 am. I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so I grabbed my bag, deciding to go to the rec room. I could probably practice my ballet for a bit.

When I got there I looked around to see if anybody was in the room. Good, I was alone. I looked at the floor, noticing it was smooth metal. It wasn't exactly a wooden floor, but it was better than nothing. Opening my bag I took out my ballet slippers and iPod, replacing my tennis shoes I wore with the ones I took out. I placing my ear buds in my ears and listened to orchestral music as I stretched. With my stretches out of the way I stood up, taking a deep breath before standing on my toes and doing my first spin. As I continued moving to the music on my iPod I closed my eyes, imagining I was dancing in the sky, imagining I was flying. Have I finally accomplished my dream to be able to fly?

Before I knew it I found myself on the floor and opened my eyes. I tripped! I can't believe I did that! I was so stupid! I forced myself to get up, turning off my iPod. I'm done practicing. I couldn't continue.

I suddenly heard clapping and turned to where it was coming from and was surprised to find Jetfire standing in front of the door that led out of the rec room (which was closed behind him), his golden colored eyes (or were they optics?) gazing at me from where he was.

"I didn't know you did ballet, Valerie." He said, sounding amused.

Jetfire came over to where I was and I found myself looking up at him. I felt my face heat up slightly and looked at the floor.

"How long were you standing there?" I asked.

"Long enough to see the performance from start to finish. I must say I haven't seen something that graceful in awhile."

My face got warmer than it already was, both from embarrassment from learning that he'd been watching me dance and from his compliment.

"Y-you think I'm graceful?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah!" I was surprised he had been able to hear me in the first place.

"I'm not graceful."

"What? You're not graceful? You're joking, right?"

"I'm not. If anything I'm a klutz."

"C'mon! Don't put yourself down! Just because you tripped doesn't automatically make you a klutz. How come you have such low self-esteem?"

I was quiet, unsure of how to answer his question. I tried going through my mind to find the answer, but didn't find anything. And he said the same thing Ms. Sanders told me.

"…I don't know." I told him.

I heard Jetfire sigh (or at least what sounded like a sigh) before he started to move, the ground shaking slightly as he did. The ground shaking wasn't the only thing that told me he was moving (although it was the obvious indication) but it was the fact that as he move his form made that distinct mechanical sound that I always heard from the transformers. Suddenly I saw one of Jetfire's fingers in my line of sight and before I knew it he placed it under my chin before forcing me to look up at his face. I noticed that he was kneeling down in front of me so I wouldn't have to strain my neck too much.

"One way to improve self-esteem is to make eye…err…optic contact whenever you're talking to someone. You seriously need the confidence boost."

"Wait, what?" I was confused. Where was he going with this?

"That's right, kiddo! As of today consider me your official self-esteem instructor, or confidence booster buddy. Whichever sounds the catchiest."

My face got warm again but I had no way of hiding it from him. I tried looking to the side, but my result…

"Hey, hey, hey! What did I tell you about making eye contact?"

Jetfire lightly poked me in the stomach with his free hand and I started laughing, placing my hands on my stomach as I did so. I just wasn't expecting him to do something like that and I hadn't really known him that long.

"There we go! Another confidence boost." He sounded as if he accomplished something. "That's probably the first time I've heard you laugh."

"Why are you doing all this?" I asked after having calmed down a bit from laughing.

"What? Can't a mech help out a friend when they need it? Besides, I'm not just doing this 'cause I was told to or anything. I just felt like it." He then removed his finger that was under my chin but he still remind kneeling in front of me. "How 'bout I show you something?"

"Show me what?"

"I can't tell you. It's a surprise of sort." I was surprised when Jetfire suddenly place his hand down in front of me and I looked at it before looking up at his face. "Well, get on! I'm not gonna drop you or anything. Autobot's honor!"

"Could I get these ballet slippers off first? They're not really meant to be worn casually like regular shoes."

"Sure thing."

As quickly as I could I got my ballet slippers off and got my tennis shoes back on before placing my slippers back in my bag. With that out of the way I climbed onto Jetfire's hand and immediately latched onto one of his fingers when he started lifting his hand as he stood up. I tighten my hold when he started walking (and I think I heard him chuckle a bit) out of the rec room and down the hallway. I had no idea where we were even going and I got confused with all the turns Jetfire was taking through the base. After awhile he stopped in front of a door and typed in a combination on the code pad (or whatever it's called) before said doors opened. I had to cover my eyes from the sudden light that invaded my vision as he walked out into it. And that was when I noticed the slight breeze that was blowing through the air and I opened my eyes to see that we were outside and gasped!

"The sky…" I said quietly, mesmerized by its color.

"Well? What do you think?" Jetfire asked.

"It's…beautiful." I turned to look at him "Thank you, Jetfire."

"No problem!"

Jetfire moved over to a bolder and saw down with his back leaning against it. He placed me on his in order for me to get comfortable. I looked at his face and saw that his gaze was set on the sky. I did the same thing, enjoying the scenery.

"So what inspired you to do ballet?" Jetfire suddenly asked.

"Believe it or not the sky did." I answered.

"The sky, huh?"

I nodded. "I've always been fascinated with the sky since I was little. I've even wished that I could fly at times."

"You know what? Just because of that I'm giving you the nickname 'Skydancer'" I couldn't help but laugh at that, which apparently made Jetfire confused. "What's so funny?"

"When I was little there used to be these toys called 'Sky Dancers'." I explained after calming down. "It consisted of a doll dressed up as a ballerina with wings made out of foam on its arms and a base with a pull string. The doll was placed on the base and when you pulled the string it launched the doll into the air while the wings were used like a propeller as it spun."

"That gives me all the more reason to call you Skydancer now. Personally, I think it suits you."

I felt my face heat up again. What was up with me and my face heating up lately? It didn't make sense to me.

"Can I ask a question?" I asked.

"You just did." Jetfire replied.

I giggled a bit.

"You're able to fly, right?"

"I'm called **_Jet_**fire for a reason, you know. And it's not just for the kicks."

I smiled. "What's it like to be able to fly?"

"It's quite fun, actually. It's definitely a lot better than just walking around to get from one place to another. And I'm the only Autobot here that can fly." He turned his head to look at me. "Maybe sometime I'll take you flying. How does that sound?"

"Really? You'd do that?" I asked, my eyes wide in surprise.

"Why not? You said so yourself that you wish you could fly. It's the least I can do."

"That's so nice of you, Jetfire."

"Well, I just so happen to be a nice guy. Now let's get you back inside before the others wonder where you are."

Jetfire wrapped one of his hands around me and he lifted me up as he stood up from where he was sitting. We went back into the base afterwards.

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ATE: That concludes chap 2 for now. I got the idea of Jetfire helping Valerie with her self-esteem when I was watching episode 26: Linkup of Transformers Armada on youtube where Alexis made a statement about Jetfire: "Doesn't exactly have a confidence problem, does he?" I just decided to play off that idea a bit and I think it worked for the most part. Please remember to review! If anyone has any ideas they'd like to suggest for future chaps feel free to do so. I'll give anyone credit for their ideas.


	3. First Mission and Self Blame

ATE: Sorry it took me so long to update this story. Not only was it hard for me to put my thoughts together just to come up with this chap, but I didn't get that much time to work on it. I have a feeling that the next chap might take awhile to come for a few reasons I won't explain. Anyways I'd like to thank **003Baby**, **DarkButterfly128**, **Gelly619**, and **the awkward ocelot O.O **for their reviews on the last chap of this story. I hope you readers enjoy this chap!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or anything related to it. I only own my OC Valerie.

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Chapter 3: First Mission and Self-Blame

"WHAT? Valerie, why didn't you tell us?"

You're probably wondering why I'm being yelled at by Alexis? It turned out that when Jetfire had taken me back to the rec room Alexis and the others happened to be in there. They had asked where I had been and we explained. But then Jetfire accidentally mentioned me doing ballet and well…here I was being bombarded by Alexis while Jetfire watched everything unfold before him.

"Well…I wasn't sure what you guys would think if you knew." I answered, my head lowered with my gaze averted.

From behind me I suddenly heard Jetfire clearing his throat (or what sounded like it), causing me to quickly lift my head up to make eye contact with Alexis.

'_Why do I have the feeling that Jetfire mentioned me doing ballet on purpose?_' I thought.

"We wouldn't have judged you for taking ballet." Alexis stated. "It's cool that you're doing it."

"R-really?"

"Yeah, totally, amiga!" Carlos said.

"Can you teach me?" Fred asked.

'_I'm not going to even answer that…_'

"We should come sometime and watch you perform." Rad said.

"Well, since everything here's been settled I'm gonna go see what Optimus is up to." Jetfire said before running out of the room. I felt slightly disappointed that he left but I really couldn't do anything to stop him now.

"So Valerie. What's it like doing ballet?" Alexis asked.

"It's difficult and takes a lot of work. I've been taking it for almost a year but I've only started improving since the past 6 months."

"So? Everybody learns at their own pace."

Alexis was right. Why didn't I realize it before? I always thought that I'd improve at the same pace as the others in class (and even thought that I'd improve overnight), but it turns out that I had to go at my own pace. I needed to take it one step at a time.

Suddenly an alarm went off, blaring loudly in the air. This left me confused. Were we being attacked?

"What's going on?" I asked.

"A Mini-Con has activated. We're going to go retrieve it with the Autobots." Rad answered.

I was reminded of what happened yesterday when I first encountered the transformers. I was terrified by the idea of going but I had to remind myself that I knew who the good guys were. I'd be fine.

Right?

I followed the others to a room where the Autobots were standing around a huge monitor. Optimus briefed us on where the Mini-Con was located, which I forgot what it was called but I remembered it was in the middle of nowhere (doesn't that sound reassuring?). Alexis led me over to this weird platform they stood on and I was momentarily blinded by a light that seemed to be scanning me. When the light went away I looked at my friends to see them wearing the orange jumpsuit's the had worn yesterday. I looked down at myself, surprised when I saw that I was wearing the same orange jumpsuit as the others.

"C'mon, Valerie! You don't want to be left behind, do you?"

I realized that everyone (except Red Alert and Smokescreen since they were staying behind to watch the base) was walking out of the room and I rushed after them, coming into what I remember was the launch room. I watched as the Autobots transformed into vehicles (Optimus was a truck, Hot Shot and Blurr were sports cars, Jetfire a space shuttle, and Scavenger was what appeared to be a bulldozer) and saw Rad, Carlos, and Alexis climb into Optimus, while Fred and Billy got inside Hot Shot. I wasn't sure what to do. Was I supposed to ride with someone? If so, who? There were 5 Autobots I could ride with, but I wasn't sure who I should go with.

"Hey, Valerie! How about you ride with me?"

My head shot in the direction the voice came from, seeing the white space shuttle that I knew was Jetfire. I hesitantly walked over to him.

"Y-you want me to ride with you?" I asked.

"If I didn't want you to I wouldn't have asked. C'mon!"

The door on the side of Jetfire's shuttle form opened up, waiting for me to get in. Not wanting to waste anymore time I quickly got inside and went over to one of the seats that were at the front (there were 6 seats total). As soon as I sat down I started searching for a seat belt or whatever was used in its place, but then these straps snaked around my chest before connecting together with a buckle in front of me. Looking down at it I saw that it was a safety harness. But how…?

"No need to thank me, Skydancer." I felt my face heat up when Jetfire referred to me by the nickname he gave me.

"You did that?" I asked.

"No, I merely watched as you somehow managed to use telekinesis to fasten your safety harness." He replied sarcastically.

I laughed.

"Well, I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when we get to wherever we're going." I closed my eyes.

I heard Jetfire chuckle.

"No need to do that, we'll be there in a matter of seconds."

"Wait! What?"

I never got my answer since I saw what looked to me to be a portal appeared in front of us before showing what I seemed to be our destination. If I hadn't known better I would have thought that our destination was right in front of us and outside the base if it wasn't for the numbers and statistic graphs I saw on it. I felt strange as it seemed to suck everyone into it and my stomach seemed to be upset. I shut my eyes hoping that somehow it would get rid of the weird sensation I was experiencing. It didn't. I suddenly gagged as bile came up and I cover my mouth before forcing myself to swallow it. I immediately regretted doing that but I didn't want to throw up inside Jetfire. Why was I like this? I knew that I didn't get motion sickness!

Just as quickly as we were sucked into the portal, we came out of it and were at the place the Mini-Con was located. I closed my eyes as I tried to slow my breathing, hoping that it at least helped my stomach a bit. I hope I don't throw up again.

"Are you okay, Skydancer?" Jetfire asked and I felt the straps of the safety harness tighten slightly.

"I'm…fine…" I said slowly.

"Sorry this isn't exactly the flight I promised you."

"It's okay, Jetfire. The Mini-Con's important at the moment."

Suddenly Jetfire jerked sharply to the left and I opened my eyes to see something that caused me to feel fear, the Decepticons. This caused him to fly towards the ground and as soon as we landed the safety harness came off before I got out, allowing Jetfire to transform. I turned around just in time to see him get hit and fall to the ground.

"Jetfire!" I cried.

"Don't worry about me! Get with the kids and find that Mini-Con!"

I started running away from where Jetfire was fighting, constantly jumping at every sound I heard from the battle as I looked for my friends. I was terrified, completely scared. What if I was shot, or worse killed?

I felt relief flood through me when I spotted Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Fred, and Bill and rushed over to them.

"Alexis!" I called.

"Valerie! Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine. Do you know where the Mini-Con is?"

"We're not sure, but we know it's somewhere in this area."

We started looking for the Mini-Con among the rocks for where it could possibly be. I came upon an alcove on the rocky wall that went a ways inside and decided to search there. To my surprise, I found the Mini-Con panel sticking out of the ground while the other half was buried. I got on my knees and started digging the panel out with my hands, not caring if I got dirt under my nails.

'_It's a small price to pay. The Mini-Con's worth it_' I thought.

It took a good amount of time but I eventually got the Mini-Con panel free. I smiled at my accomplishment before running out to find the others, searching in every direction until I spotted them.

"Hey, guys!" I shouted, running over to them. My voice got their attention and they looked in my direction. "I found it! I found the Mini-Con!"

I watched as excited looks came on their faces, but then a shadow passed over me and they were replaced with horrified expressions as they seemed to look past me. I was confused and turned around, only to have my eyes widen in fear when I saw the Decepticon with the weird eyes (Demolisher, if I remembered correctly) standing behind me. I watched as he reached his hand out to me slowly.

"Valerie, RUN!"

That was all I needed to hear and I started running away as fast as I could, clutching the Mini-Con panel close to my chest protectively with both arms. My lungs burned and my legs felt sore, but I couldn't stop running no matter how tired I was. My friends were counting on me.

But my downfall came when I suddenly tripped and I found myself on the rocky ground in pain, my palms stinging from having been scrapped during the fall. My HANDS? I lifted my head up and saw that the Mini-Con panel had landed a few feet away from me when I fell. I had to get it! I was about to get up to get it when I saw Megatron come out of nowhere and grabbed it. I froze in place when he spotted me.

"It's you again, femme. And you found the Mini-Con." The Decepticon leader stated, a smirk on his face. "I should reward you for delivering it to me personally." I felt myself shaking in fear and I gulped. He chuckled, seeming to sense my fear. "I know the perfect reward." He pulled out a blaster and my eyes widen as he aimed it at me. "A quick death!"

My mind started screaming for me to get up and run for it but my body wasn't listening. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, expecting the inevitable to come. This was it! I was going to die and was because of my clumsiness! I saw the images of my friends flash before my mind's eyes, meeting Autobots, talking with Jetfire and remembering the promise he made me.

I heard the blaster go off but didn't feel the impact, followed by more blaster fire rapidly going off. I opened my eyes wondering what happened, only to gasp and my eyes widened when I saw Optimus kneeling in front of me while using his body to shield me from the attack as Megatron continued firing at his back. It didn't help that his form was beaten up a bit and Megatron's attack probably wasn't helping him.

"Optimus!" I cried.

The Autobot leader slowly turned his head and looked down at me with his golden colored optics.

"Valerie! I want you to make a run for it and get to safety!" Optimus told me, his voice sounding somewhat strain from the attack.

"But Optimus-!"

"Go! That's an order!"

I hesitantly got up, completely dumbstruck and shocked that…that Optimus was risking his life to protect me and allowing me to get away safely. There was nothing I could do except run. That was why he was taking the blows from Megatron's blaster in the first place. I started running away, not caring where I was heading as long as I was able to get away. I don't know how long I ran and my mind was so caught up in my thoughts that before I knew it I found myself coming into an area where the rest of the Autobots and my friends were, the former group looking worn from the battle. Seeing the transformers in this state made my mind think back on what just happened earlier with Optimus. Speaking about Optimus, I soon heard heavy footsteps behind me and turned to see the Autobot leader limp into the area. I silently gasped at the condition he was in, knowing that he was in worse shape than his men.

'_And it's all my fault…_' I thought sadly.

"What about the Mini-Con?"

Hot Shot's voice brought me out of my thoughts and I turned to face him and the others.

"Valerie found it but then Demolisher went after her." Rad told the yellow Autobot.

Everyone's attention turned to me and I suddenly felt dread as they looked at me. Their gazes seemed to weigh down on me and I was overcome with guilt.

"So? Where is it?" He asked.

"I was running…and I dropped it when I tripped. And now the Decepticons have it."

I watched as Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred had shocked expressions, as well as the Autobots expressing their shock in their own way, although I wasn't sure about Blurr since he didn't seem to show it. But seeing everyone's reactions caused the guilt I felt to increase. My eyes started to well up with tears but I refused to let them fall.

My mind didn't seem to register what was said but when the Autobots transformed I knew it was time to head back to the base. I decided to ride with Blurr and sat in the passenger seat. I knew that if I rode with him that he wouldn't talk to me and I took solace in that. I didn't feel like talking, not after what happened. I felt…I felt worthless! Even after warping back to the base the nauseous feeling in my stomach was nothing compared to the emotional pain I felt at the moment.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_I found myself standing in black nothingness alone. I was alone until I saw my friends and the Autobots standing around me in a circle as a spotlight shown down on each other them. _

"_You guys…" I said._

_They didn't say anything. They didn't need to. The looks on their faces were enough to tell me what was going through their heads. Disappointment. Accusation. As I looked around at everyone I couldn't help but feel the combination of guilt, sadness, and worthlessness go through me. It was too much._

"_Alexis? Rad? Carlos? Billy? Fred?"_

_Even as I called their names they didn't say anything. I gasped when they suddenly disappeared along with the spotlights they were standing under. That only left the Autobots standing where they were around me. One by one they turned their backs on me before disappearing the same way that Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred did. I looked behind me to see that Jetfire was the only one left._

"_Jetfire?" I said. _

_I started walking towards him, but nothing prepared me for what happened next. He pulled his blaster out and aimed at me, causing me to stop in place and become shocked. Why was he doing this?_

"_How could you let the Decepticons get their slagging servos on the Mini-Con?" He asked. "Oh, that's right! You tripped, you klutz!"_

_Everything he said seemed to stab daggers into my chest and I suddenly found myself clutching a hand to my chest. _

"_I didn't mean to… I'm so sorry…" I said quietly. I started crying._

"_Ah, you're leaking. Did I hurt your feelings? Maybe I should just blast you. That way I'd be putting you out of your misery and out of our CPUs. Or I could let you live and continue to suffer." He turned his back to face me. "You know what? I'll just leave you to suffer."_

_With that he disappeared just like everyone else, leaving me alone in this nothingness._

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

My eyes shot open and I bolted into an upright position as I breathed heavily. I felt something on my hands and I looked down at them to see that they were wrapped up in bandages so that my fingers were to only thing not covered by them. They weren't wrapped before. I lifted my head to take in my surroundings and was surprised to find myself in the med bay. When did I get here? I don't remember coming here at all. And I don't remember falling asleep either.

As I continued looking around me I could see that I wasn't the only one in here. I cringed upon seeing Optimus laying on top of a berth while Red Alert worked on him completely focused. Looking to my left I saw Hot Shot on another berth, but when I looked to my right my eyes widened when I saw Jetfire on a berth as well, seeming to be asleep since his optics seemed to be dimmed.

I suddenly remembered my dream and started shaking a bit as my mind replayed everything. I couldn't stay in this room. I needed to get away and be alone. I got up and tried to find a way down from the berth I was on top of and was slightly relieved to find a ladder. As soon as my feet touched the ground I made a bee-line for the door that led into the hallway. I wasn't aware of where I was going but I eventually found myself curled up in a ball crying.

The faces of everyone in my dream wouldn't leave my mind. It was my fault! It was my fault that I lost the Mini-Con! It was my fault that Optimus got hurt all because he was forced to shield me from Megatron's blaster! And now everyone probably hated me for my clumsiness!

'_It's my fault!_' I thought, shutting my eyes tightly. I started pounding on my head with my fists. '_It's my fault! It's my fault! It's my fault! It's-!_'

Suddenly my arm was stopped just when I was about to hit my head again, causing me to become confused. I opened my eyes before lifting my head up, only to have my breath caught in my throat when I saw Jetfire kneeling down in front of me while he held my arm between his index finger and thumb. Even as he looked down at me I could see that he gazed at me with pity. I looked away, not wanting to see that look on his face. I didn't deserve it.

"Skydancer. Look at me." I shook my head, letting him know I didn't want to. "Why won't you look at me?"

"It's my fault…" I said quietly, fresh tears starting to fall from my eyes. "It's all my fault…"

"What are you talking about?"

"I lost the Mini-Con and Optimus got hurt because of me. All of this is my fault."

Jetfire let go of my arm before I felt something on my back.

"It's not your fault, Valerie." He told me. "Optimus got hurt protecting you. He would've done the same thing for any of us if we were in the same situation. Besides this hasn't been the first time the Autobots lost a Mini-Con to the Decepticons."

I soon felt another hand to my left before I was suddenly scooped up in both hands. From my peripheral vision I could see that Jetfire brought me close to his chest and I found myself being cradled close to it. My face heated up from the close contact. I heard Jetfire sigh.

"No wonder you have such low self-esteem. You beat yourself up for something you couldn't help."

I forced myself to look up at him, exposing my tear-stained face. I saw what appeared to be surprise on his face before I saw it soften in concern.

"You're leaking..." He said softly. "Are you that upset about what happened?"

I lowered my gaze before nodding my head. Jetfire lifted me up so that I was held against the Autobot symbol on his chest. I noticed that it was warmer on that spot then the rest of him, not that his metal surface was cold like I thought it'd be when I first met him. I found comfort in the warmth I felt and placed the side of my face against his chest.

"It's going to be okay, Skydancer. That much I can tell you."

A part of me wished that Jetfire was right about what he said, but the other part felt somewhat uncertain about it. What was I supposed to believe?

* * *

ATE: That's it for chap 3 of this story. I hope people enjoyed it. Now the next chap will be the events of episode 26: Linkup from Transformers Armada, so you have an idea as to what'll happen next. Anyways, if anyone has any ideas they'd want to suggest for any future chaps of this story feel free to share and I'll give credit for anyone's ideas I use. Please remember to review! ;D


	4. Linkup

ATE: Whoa! I can't believe it took me this long to update this story. I literally had to watch Episode 26 of Transformers Armada (which is what this chap covers) just to write this and actually get the correct dialogue for the characters. I even went as far as to give the chap the same name as the episode itself because I couldn't think of something this time and this is the longest chap so far for this story. I would like to thank **DarkButterfly128 **for their review of the last chap. Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada (and any of the episode from the series), or anything related. I only own my OC Valerie.

* * *

Chapter 4: Linkup

I was with my friends as we gazed through the large window down at the med bay where Red Alert was still working on Optimus while Hot Shot and Jetfire stood behind us. That guilty feeling I've been having lately came back. Despite what Jetfire told me yesterday when he was comforting me I still felt like it was my fault that the Autobot leader was in the state he was in. Ever since the mission yesterday I wasn't talking as much as I usually did and I've kept to myself. I haven't even looked at the sky like I used to. Everyone seemed to notice my change but they didn't say anything (and I was hoping they wouldn't). Although I've seen the looks they gave me and it made me feel worse.

"Is Optimus okay?" Fred asked.

"Don't be stupid, Fred! He's not gonna be okay until he's repaired and that could take awhile." Billy answered.

"Cut it out, you two! Arguing isn't gonna do a thing to help him!" Alexis stated.

"So how bad is it, Red Alert?" Rad asked.

"It's not that serious. But we've got him docked just to be safe." Red Alert replied. "The Vice Commander can take some of the heat off while we check him out. At least that's the plan.

"Vice Commander?

Wait a sec! Who's that?" Carlos asked.

"Could it be?" Billy asked.

"No way!" Fred said.

"Thaaaat's right, kids! It's me, Jetfire! Heheh!" He laughed, seeming to enjoy the attention. "So go ahead and plot if you like. After all, I'm practically a super hero! That's why they call me Optimus' right hand bot!"

"He'll be signing autographs later." Hot Shot said, sounding somewhat jealous. Or was he annoyed? Either way the yellow Autobot wasn't impressed with Jetfire bragging.

"He's only kidding. But seriously, I'm here so there's nothing to worry about. Count on me, and I'll count on your support."

"Doesn't exactly have a confidence problem, does he?" Alexis asked.

Everyone agreed.

I never would have thought Jetfire was the Vice Commander. I thought it would've been someone like Scavenger or Blurr, but that just goes to show that stereotypes aren't always what they're supposed to be. Or was it that stereotypes weren't the obvious pick? Thinking about it was starting to give me a bit of an headache.

I felt someone staring at me but I didn't dare turn around to see who it was. I already had the feeling I knew who it was and sighed quietly.

'_Jetfire…_'

I knew he was concerned about me ever since he found me crying yesterday. I've tried to avoid him since then but one way or another I ended up running into the white Autobot (not literally) somehow. I eventually gave up on trying to do so and it seemed that no matter how hard I tried he would always find me. I just couldn't get away from him! Was he deliberately seeking me out?

'_Sometimes I wish I wasn't a teenager. All this angst is unnecessary._'

I decided to leave and go to the rec room to get some rest since I didn't sleep well last night.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire watched as Valerie left with a heavy spark. Ever since the mission yesterday she had been depressed and he'd noticed she had been trying to avoid him (trying being the key word). He couldn't help but feel worried about her.

"Skydancer…" He sighed quietly.

"Skydancer? Who's that?" Hot Shot asked, causing Jetfire to turn and face him. The yellow Autobot seemed to realize something and smirked. "Is she a femme you met back on Cybertron?"

'_Oh no! That ain't gonna work on me, buddy!_' Jetfire thought, smirking behind his face plate.

"No, she's not." Jetfire replied, enjoying how Hot Shot's smug look changed into confusion.

"Huh? Then who is she?"

"That's the nickname I gave Valerie."

"But why 'Skydancer'?"

"She's taking ballet lessons and she happens to like looking at the sky, which inspired her to dance. Now if you'll excuse me I have something to do."

Jetfire ran off before anyone could say anything. He wanted to find Valerie and see what she was up to and, if he was lucky, possibly talk to her. The white bot didn't have to guess where she was since she only went to the rec room. Before he knew it he found himself standing outside the door leading into the rec room and didn't hesitate to enter. But what he found wasn't what he expected.

Valerie was laying on a human size couch and he quietly made his way over to where she was. Kneeling down Jetfire saw that she was asleep and was surprised at how peaceful she looked. He had never seen her look so serene before that it was hard for him to believe this was the same human femme who was depressed. Despite only having met her almost two days ago he already missed Valerie's smile.

Jetfire sighed, his spark feeling heavy as he leaned forward a bit and stretched his hand out to her.

"I wish there was something I could do to help you." He said quietly, caressing the side of her face with his index finger. "You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened when it wasn't even your fault in the first place."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I heard someone talking quietly and wondered who it was before feeling something stroking the side of my face with such a light and gentle touch that it surprised me when I felt relaxed. I opened my eyes and was surprised to find Jetfire kneeling down in front of the couch I was on with his right arm outstretched towards me. I realized what I felt was his finger that was stroking my face and my face heated up. Jetfire's optics seemed to widen when he noticed that I was awake and pulled his hand away, but he never moved away. He almost looked a bit…sheepish.

"Hi there…" He said lightly.

"Hi…" I replied, feeling a bit awkward.

I soon found myself staring at Jetfire as he did the same for me and I couldn't pull myself to look away. My stomach was suddenly doing flips and I blinked.

"I win!" Jetfire suddenly declared.

"Huh?" I was confused. What did he mean 'he won'? "What?"

"Didn't you know? We were having a staring contest and I won!" He chuckled. "I know this is random, but your eyes are a nice shade of blue."

My face heated up and I used the pillow under my head to hide my face.

"Oh, c'mon! My face isn't _that_ hideous!" He complained. And he was supposed to be the Vice Commander?

My voice was slightly muffled by the pillow.

"What? I can't exactly understand the language of 'muffled voice'. Try speaking English."

"Your face isn't hideous!" I said after pulling the pillow away from my face.

"So you're saying my face is beautiful then?"

"N-no! T-that's not what I meant!" my face got warmer.

"Then what did you mean?"

"I meant that…that…"

"I know what you really meant! No need to get so worked up." He chuckled. "But I could say the same thing as well about you."

"What?" I asked, sitting up. Did I hear right? Did he say what I thought he said?

"It's called a compliment, Skydancer."

"Oh…" I said, looking away. "Thanks…"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"I don't deserve any compliments…"

Jetfire suddenly growled quietly before he suddenly grabbed and jerked me up in front of his face, forcing me to look at his face. My eyes widened in surprise by what he did and I felt somewhat fearful.

"Would you stop blaming yourself?" He shouted. This was the first time I heard him shout at me, but I had a feeling it wasn't as loud as it usually was. "How many times do I have to tell you that it isn't your fault? I know you're aware that what happened yesterday wasn't your fault, but you won't accept it!" He lowered his voice suddenly, taking me by surprise. "I'm sorry, but I don't like seeing you like this. I just want to see you smile again."

I felt my eyes water with tears and I lowered my head, letting my hair hang in front of my face to hide the tears that threatened to fall. But that didn't stop my body from shaking.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" I whispered. I was no longer able to hold the tears back.

Jetfire pulled me close to the Autobot symbol on his chest and just held me there as if he was giving me a hug. I was surprised when he suddenly started…humming a tune that vaguely sounded like a lullaby of sort. It was weird hearing him since I thought he wasn't the type to sing, let alone hum. But the sound was strangely soothing along with the warmth from his chest causing my mind to feel a bit hazy.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me."

I opened my eyes that I hadn't noticed I closed and realized Jetfire was no longer humming. I looked up to see him gazing down at me and I felt my stomach do flips as my face heated up slightly.

"What was that you were humming?" I asked.

"Oh, that? That was just a little song my mother used to hum to me whenever I was upset as a sparkling." Jetfire told me.

"Are there any words to it?"

"There are, but you wouldn't be able to pronounce them since they're in Cybertronian."

"Either way it was pretty."

"Do you feel better now?"

"I guess…"

Jetfire sighed.

"Listen, nobody's mad at you for what happened. But we're all worried about you."

"I kind of figured that but I feel the need to apologize to Optimus."

"Okay. If you want to apologize to Optimus you can when he's better. But until then you're not leaving my sight, you hear?"

"What?" My eyes widened in surprise. "But-!"

"No excuses, Skydancer. You're sticking with me whether you like it or not."

With that Jetfire started making his way to the exit with me still being held in his hand. I didn't bother struggling since it wouldn't do me any good. This was Jetfire we're talking about and he wasn't going to let me go so easily. My thoughts went back to when he told me about the song he hummed to me and about his mom. I wonder what his mom was like.

Then I remembered something.

"What's a sparkling?"

Jetfire suddenly stopped and I looked up at his face. I had a feeling that if he were human his face might've been white from hearing the question. At least that what he appeared to be like to me.

"Oh… Uh… How am I going to explain this? Sparklings are…they're transformers who are newly created by their creators, which you humans would call 'parents'."

"So sparklings are…babies?" I guessed.

"Yep! They're babies! If you want to know more about how they're born-"

"No! I don't want to have the 'talk'! Anything but that!" I felt my face heat up in embarrassment.

Jetfire stopped and stared down at me, clearly confused at my obvious embarrassment.

"The 'talk'?" He asked. "What's that?"

"It's…it's basically the 'birds and the bees' thing, or so I've heard…" I didn't know that much about it, but I knew the general idea…somewhat. "You can look it up yourself."

Jetfire paused a bit as his golden optics dimmed slightly, only to brighten again and seemed to get…wide.

"Oh… Um…" He started, sounding uneasy. "That…wasn't what I…expected…"

My face heated up some more. Knowing that he actually _looked _up that term was embarrassing, not to mention that he was aware of what it meant made it worse.

'_I shouldn't had said anything. Me and my big mouth_.' I thought.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I had been quiet after Jetfire explained to me what a sparkling was, even when I was standing on the platform my friends were on as we watched the Autobots (Smokescreen, Blurr, Scavenger, Hot Shot, and Jetfire) talking with each other. I didn't know what they were discussing but I chose to listen in on their conversation.

"Hm… Interesting… Looks like…" Smokescreen trailed of before turning around and gasped quietly. "It's Thrust?"

I was confused. Who was Thrust?

"It was a well thought up battle. Unlike those of the Decepticons up until now." Blurr stated.

"He's right, you know?"

"Hm… The great tactician Thrust. I've heard of him."

"Oh yeah? W-well I haven't!" Hot Shot interjected.

"I'm not surprised, Hot Shot." Scavenger answered, turning to the yellow Autobot. "You're too young to have battled on the planet Cybertron yet."

"So what's his story, huh you guys?"

"Have you ever heard of the planet Vector?" Blurr asked, seeming to load his blaster.

"The planet Vector? Hello? How can anyone forget that? That's where the Autobots where all destroyed in a giant battle."

"And Thrust was the one who led that attack." Scavenger stated.

"That's not all he's done." Blurr attached his blast to his right arm before aiming it in the direction in front of him as if ready to shoot someone. "He also led the Decepticons on planet Orga, and in the battle of planet Duke."

"Oh man! The Autobots got totally thrashed! And almost got wiped out!"

"What chance do we have against Megatron when Thrust teamed up with them?" Fred asked.

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Carlos asked. "Are you forgetting that we got Jetfire on our side? What about that, huh?"

"Yeah! We won't get blown away _that_ easily!" Billy stated.

Jetfire seemed to hear Billy's statement since he came over to where we were and brought his face close to Billy.

"Hey, I heard that! You better watch what you're saying, kid! What do you mean 'blown away that easy'?" Jetfire asked.

Billy laughed, lifting his right arm that was in a fist while the white Autobot held his finger in as if pointing to said boy. "I meant we'll win, Jetfire, that's all."

The boy placed his hands back on the rail and the Autobot lowered his hand.

"Hey, of course we'll win! I'm here, aren't I?" Jetfire suddenly stood up and noticed High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor standing behind him "Huh?"

High Wire bleeped.

"What is it, bots?" Jetfire asked.

High Wire bleeped again while holding his arms out. What was he saying?

"So? What's the problem?"

"They say there's a suspicious bot flying overhead." Rad answered.

"_What_? Why didn't they say that in the _first_ place?" Jetfire asked.

The Mini-Con continued bleeping.

"Well, that is what they're saying."

"Oh yeah?" Jetfire walked towards the screen displaying the jet (or should I say Decepticon) and stood in front of it. "What do I know? I can never figure out what they mean."

"That bot's been flying overhead for quite awhile now." Alexis said.

Scavenger seemed to be looking at the monitor and his optics widened.

"Look, it's Thrust!" Scavenger exclaimed.

Hot Shot made a sound similar to a quiet gasp.

"Hm?" Jetfire was quiet along with everyone else, seeming to be thinking. "Just leave things in _my _hands!" Suddenly he ran off down the hallway. "Ready or not, Thrust, _here_ I come!"

"But Jetfire!" Hot Shot exclaimed as he took a step towards the hallway but stopped.

I knew that my friends were thinking the same thing as we all watched the hallway Jetfire ran through.

"Hey, there he goes, guys!" Carlos said.

"He's sure not like Optimus, is he?" Alexis asked.

That was when Jetfire suddenly looked around the corner he had turned into earlier to look at all of us.

"Oh, uh… By the way…don't tell Optimus about this." Jetfire told us. "Now stand back and watch a pro at work!"

My eyes widened in surprise. Was he seriously planning on taking Thrust all by himself?

'_He's crazy!_' I thought.

I turned to the monitor and saw that instead of showing Thrust I could see Jetfire flying after him only to encounter the other Decepticons with their Mini-Cons. This wasn't good.

"It's a trap!" Alexis cried. "Jetfire!"

"Hey, don't worry about me. I can handle myself!" Jetfire said through the intercom on the monitor.

"No, don't! He's using the Mini-Cons against you! Don't hit them!" Rad exclaimed.

"C'mon, kids! I'm _not_ gonna hit the Mini-Cons, okay? Now quit worrying and just lemme do my _job_ here!"

We watched as he transformed while Cyclonus and a few Mini-Cons started advancing on him. Jetfire held his blaster with both hands as he aimed and shot at Cyclonus, who barely avoided the blast.

"Oh man! He's actually enjoying himself." Billy said.

"Way to go, Jetfire!" Carlos started cheering. "Yeah! Show 'em who's boss! You da man, yeah!"

But all that changed when Jetfire was suddenly under fire from the Mini-Cons as they flew around him. It got worse when Cyclonus joined to the Mini-Cons in shooting him, forcing the white Autobot to block their attacks with his arms. Suddenly the clouds around Jetfire were dispersed and I saw why when he dodge the blast behind shot at him from the sky. I suddenly felt very worried about him.

"Jetfire!" Hot Shot said, sounding worried.

"Don't worry about me! I can handle it…maybe." Jetfire added the last part as an after thought.

"You others get out there right now and help him out stat!" Scavenger ordered.

"But they're over the ocean! Where are they supposed to land, Scavenger?" Hot Shot asked.

"Wait!" Alexis cried from where she sat at a small console for us (the kids) could use. "There's an island in the west!"

"You hear that, Jetfire? An island! We're coming to help you right now!" Smokescreen said before turning to Hot Shot. "C'mon, Hot Shot! Let's roll!"

"Right!" The yellow Autobot agreed.

"I'm coming with you. We're busting that island right now!" Blurr said.

Hot Shot, Smokescreen, and Blurr left to warp to the island Alexis found. I turned around so my back was facing the monitor, not wanting to watch.

"Scavenger!" Rad said.

"Interesting… It's really an impressive trap." Scavenger stated.

"Would you quit gawking at him and do something?" Carlos asked.

"You think Optimus is still too hurt to help them out?" Fred added.

"Red Alert! Come in! Can you hear me?" Rad asked.

"What's the matter? What's going on, Rad?" I heard Red Alert ask over the intercom.

"Hot Shot and the others went to rescue Jetfire, but now they're all under fire! We need Optimus!"

I closed my eyes and balled my hands into fist. This was going horribly wrong! Jetfire was out there trying to right off the Decepticons firing at him while the rescue team was also under attack.

"What's the deal? Why are they taking commands from a Decepticon, huh?" Carlos asked.

"It's just like Optimus said. Mini-Cons that are awaken by Decepticons think of the Decepticons as their masters!" Fred said.

"Scavenger!" Red Alert's voice said.

"Hm?"

"Report to me what's happening out there?"

"It's not looking good. Thrust's plan is doing us in." Scavenger told him.

"What about Optimus, Red Alert? Is he still out of commission?" Rad asked.

"He's almost ready. And I'll come along, too." Red Alert answered.

"Hey, we need you guys fast! If we don't do something our whole team's gonna get fried!" Carlos shouted.

It was only after a few minutes that I heard the door hiss open before hearing the loud footsteps of Red Alert walk in.

"Scavenger." Red Alert said.

"I don't like it! They need help out there." Scavenger said.

"Yeah, but can Thrust really make that much of a difference?" Alexis asked.

"Oh man! We're gonna get toasted!" Carlos suddenly said.

"Red Alert! I'm moving out!" Scavenger declared.

"I'm coming too." Red Alert said.

"Wait a minute! What about Optimus?" Rad asked. "What'll happen to him if you guys leave?"

Red Alert seemed to be hesitant.

"Yeah! Optimus is still immobilized!" Carlos stated. "I think someone should stay here."

Suddenly there was a buzzing sound that resounded in the air.

"Hey, who's that?" Alexis asked, causing me to open my eyes before turning to where she was and saw her standing in front of the human size console. "Someone's on the launching dock!"

"What?" Red Alert asked, unsure if he heard her correctly.

"Bring it up on the monitor!" Scavenger ordered.

Alexis did so and all of us were surprised at what we saw!

"Optimus!" Rad exclaimed.

"Unbelievable!" Scavenger seemed to be just as surprised as we were.

"Prepare to warp me to Jetfire's coordinates." Optimus said and I noticed the tired sound in his voice.

"Optimus, sir! But you're not ready yet!" Red Alert stated.

"Don't worry about me! I'll be fine! Now do it!"

"No way!" Carlos complained. "I don't care how strong you are, if you fall from up there you'll be toast!"

"But Optimus, you haven't fully recovered yet!" Billy added.

"Yeah don't do it!" Alexis cried.

"Don't do it!" Fred interjected at the same time Alexis said those same words. "I'm begging you, please!"

"Obey my command!" Optimus' words confused Fred. "You must trust me!"

Everyone seemed hesitant about what to do but then Scavenger went up to the monitor and started typing something in, the keys bleeping as he pressed one.

"I'm sending the landing coordinates." He told Optimus.

I was shocked that Optimus still wanted to do this. And he was still injured, too!

"Initiate launch! Now!"

"Wait!" I cried out, running towards the monitor. "Optimus-!"

I wasn't able to finish what I wanted to say since Optimus warped out of the base.

'_I'm sorry..._' I added silently, feeling a bit saddened.

"Optimus!" Rad said in awe.

The monitor switched to where Jetfire was and we could see that he was still being surrounded by the Mini-Cons. But then Optimus warped out and would've ram into Thrust deliberately if the latter hadn't moved out of the way. I could hear Carlos and Fred cheering him on but I couldn't make out what they were saying since they were talking at once. Optimus ended up skydiving passed Jetfire and I became fearful when I realized he was falling towards the ocean. Jetfire flew after him and what happened next surprised me! They started transforming, as in Jetfire transformed into a pair of legs and Optimus transformed into the upper half before they combined.

"What is this?" Red Alert asked, voicing my thoughts.

Optimus (or was it Jetfire?) flew up back into the sky and fired his…? Their…? Whatever. He fired his blaster at Starscream and the Decepticon fell from the sky after being hit. Optimus then flew towards the island and knocked Megatron into the ocean when he flew over him. Demolisher tried shooting at him but then Optimus picked him up and flew over the ocean before dropping him into the water. The other Decepticons treated before Optimus landed on the ground.

"They did it." I said quietly.

"Oh! That was sweet! Nice job, Optimus!" Carlos cheered as he waved his fist in the air.

"Don't forget how cool Jetfire was!" Billy said.

"Or that Jet Convoy!" Fred added.

"You said it!" Alexis said.

"Yep!" Rad agreed.

"Optimus, sir." Red Alert said.

"It's amazing! Those two guys are really something, huh?" Scavenger said with a smile. "Just when you think the battle is lost they come back and win."

The Autobots talked awhile before I heard them laughing. Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred started running out of the room in the direction of the launch room and I followed them. As we stood in the room waiting for them to return Red Alert and Scavenger joined us not long after we got there. I watched as the warp opened and Optimus and the others warped into the room. Everyone went over to them and praised them excitedly, but I stayed where I was. Everyone looked so happy. They didn't need me here. I turned around before making my way to the door.

"Valerie!"

I stopped where I was and turned around to see Optimus gazing at me from where he stood. He came over to me and knelt down.

"I believe you had something to tell me." The Autobot leader told me.

I felt a little nervous and started twiddling my thumbs. I looked up at Optimus and seeing the kind look on his face encouraged me.

"Optimus, I'm sorry for yesterday…for losing the Mini-Con and for you getting hurt because of me… I'm sorry." I told him, hanging my head.

"You don't have to apologize, Valerie. You have nothing to be sorry for." Optimus said, causing me to be surprised. "I knew the risks of what would happen if I did what I did. I would have done the same thing if it had been one of my men in your position."

I suddenly remembered Jetfire saying the same thing to me.

"So none of you are mad at me?"

"Of course not."

I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I smiled for the first time since yesterday's mission.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I saw outside the base gazing at the orange painted sky. The sunset was beautiful.

"So you're back to sky-gazing again."

I looked over my shoulder to see Jetfire standing behind me and gave a small smile before turning back around. I heard his footsteps coming closer until the ground shook slightly. I turned around again to see him sitting on the ground leaning back against a boulder and could tell he was relaxed. I couldn't help but smile.

"You were right." I told him. "Nobody's mad at me."

"Of course I was right! I told you, didn't I?" Jetfire answered.

"Yeah." I got up from where I was sitting and went over to where he was. "But what you did today was reckless. What were you thinking taking on those Decepticons by yourself?"

"What? You too? I told everyone I learned my lesson, at least now I have." He complained. "You're my confidence booster buddy! You're supposed to be supportive of me."

"I know. I…I was just worried about you…"

"You were that worried about me?"

I only nodded my head. Jetfire suddenly picked me up and I found myself staring into his face.

"Just _how _worried were you?" He asked.

"I was worried enough that I couldn't help but think something bad was going to happen to you."

Jetfire chuckled.

"You don't have to worry! I'm perfectly capable of holding my own until help arrives. And now you finally understand."

"Understand what?" I asked.

"How worried we were about you, but not to the same extent."

"I'm sorry…" I hung my head.

"Oh no! Don't go saying sorry when there isn't anything to apologize for!" Jetfire placed the index finger of his free hand under my chin, forcing me to look at him again and I felt my face heat up. He sighed contently. "I haven't known you for that long, but I can tell you're a good person. A little bit shy and on the sensitive side, but still a good person."

"Y-you think I'm a good person?" My face got even more warmer.

"Yep! I call 'em as I see 'em!" He told me. "And I even consider you my buddy."

I couldn't help but smile.

'_Buddies…_' I thought.

"Take a look behind you, Skydancer." Jetfire suddenly said.

I was confused by what he meant, but I looked behind me and my eyes widened in awe at the sky, the sun having already sank beyond the horizon as some stars started to appear in the sky. It was beautiful like the sun rise from the previous morning.

Maybe everything would be alright from this point on.

* * *

ATE: So this concludes chap 4 of this story, and the events of Episode 26 of Transformers Armada. As for the song that Jetfire is humming there wasn't specifically a song in mind per say, but I was listening to the song Infinite White from the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie score (which I don't own) and the vocals starting at 1:19 and ongoing gave me the idea of the song itself that he'd hum. It's entirely up to the imagination. I'm not sure if I made Jetfire a little OOC with him getting a little mad at Valerie (the idea itself was last minute), but I think it worked out in the end. Anyways, if anyone has any ideas they'd like to see in this story please tell me and I'll give credit to whoever's ideas I use.

Please remember to review! ;D


	5. Requiem Blaster

ATE: I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. Apparently it's been more than a month since I've last updated and I feel really horrible for it now. But to make it up to everyone, this chap is the longest by far (it was literally 23 pages long in microsoft word processor and at a whopping 7,890 words)! This chap will cover Episodes 27 (Detection), 28 (Awakening), and 29 (Desperate) from Transformers Armada. I'd like to thank **DarkButterfly128** and **precious92 or freezeingtime92 **for their reviews for the previous chap. I hope everyone enjoys chap 5!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers Armada or the show called Bones. I only own my OC Valerie.

* * *

Chapter 5: Requiem Blaster

"You don't stand a chance me, Jetfire!" Smokescreen exclaimed.

"Oh yeah? Bring it on, Smokey!" Jetfire retorted.

"Okay, but remember you asked for it!"

"I'm ready when you are!"

"I'm gonna enjoy this!"

"You're all talk! Let's see some action!"

"In my rule book loser always goes first!"

"Same in mine, so how come you're not following?"

I watched in fascination with my friends (along with Hot Shot and Blurr) as Jetfire and Smokescreen started arm wrestling with each other. It was apparent that they were an even match.

"C'mon Smokescreen! Do it Jetfire! Go for it!" Alexis cheered, causing Carlos to look at her.

"Hey Alexis? How come you're cheering for both of them?" Carlos asked, clearly confused.

Alexis turned to him.

"Because, Carlos, I want them both to win."

"Yeah, right, sure." Carlos was puzzled by her answer and turned away. "I just don't understand girls…"

I looked back at Jetfire and Smokescreen and I saw that the latter was struggling a bit, but it was barely noticeable.

"Yeah! That's it! You got him now, Smokescreen!" Hot Shot cheered, cupping his hands around his mouth so it would project his voice like a megaphone.

"You can win, Jetfire! I know you can!" I suddenly found myself cheering.

"You're cheering for Jetfire?" Alexis asked me.

"Yeah."

"Oh, I see how it is." She smirked. "You like him."

"N-no I don't!"

I felt my face heat up slightly before turning back to the arm wrestling match, just in time to witness Jetfire slam Smokescreen hand down.

"Well, what are the chances of that happening? You beat me again." Smokescreen said. "I think my arm must've fallen asleep, so lucky break for you this time, Jetfire."

"Nice try, Smokescreen." Hot Shot said, causing Smokescreen to turn to him. "But that makes it your third loss in a row."

"He just can't admit being inferior to me, that's all!" Jetfire claimed turning to face Hot Shot and Blurr.

"Lucky he doesn't have an ego." Carlos said, placing an arm behind his head.

"Yeah!" Rad said, laughing.

"Right." Alexis agreed.

"One more round, Jetfire. I bet I can beat you this time!" Smokescreen said, holding up one finger to emphasis his point.

"Okay, but you asked for it!" Jetfire replied.

With that Jetfire and Smokescreen locked hands together and started arm wrestling again. Alexis leaned closer to me.

"Admit it. You like him." She whispered so no one could hear. "Why else would he spend time with you?"

My face heated up again but I didn't say anything. Alexis leaned away, giggling as she found my silence entertaining.

It was so strange. The transformers acted so human instead of the giant robots that they were. I would even go as far as to say that I didn't consider them as robots. They had emotions just like any other human. That's what made them different from stereotypical robots that one would usually see in a sci-fi movie. Alexis had told me that Jetfire hadn't been on Earth for long, but ever since he arrived here the base has been full of life. It was like his very presence boosted everyone's confidence and made sure they were ready to fight the Decepticons. I knew that there would still be more battles to come and that the Autobots would be putting their lives in danger just to end their war. But the question I wanted to ask the most, but couldn't bring myself to say, was how long would this war last? Would it ever end?

Jetfire ended up winning again and we all laughed. That was the fourth time Smokescreen lost. At least he tried. I suddenly got an idea and giggled.

"What are you giggling about, Skydancer?" Jetfire suddenly asked, and I realized that he was standing in front of the platform I was on. When did he get there? "Is there something overly amusing that I missed?"

"Oh, I just had a riddle for you." I told him.

"A riddle, huh?"

"Yeah. If you can figure out what the right answer is, I'll give you a surprise."

"So if I get the right answer, you'll give me a surprise." He concluded, making sure he understood what I said.

"Exactly! And you don't have to guess right now. It's one of those things you have to think about."

"Alright! Tell me the riddle! I bet I can figure it out in no time!"

"Here's the riddle. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" I told him.

"Uh…" Jetfire itched the side of his head with his index finger. "This is going to take me awhile to figure out…"

I giggled, already knowing the answer.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_(Later)_

"Huh? Ah! What's the deal with this thing?" Hot Shot exclaimed as he tried to fit a panel into the wall.

'_That doesn't look right…_' I thought.

Red Alert turned around and noticed what the yellow Autobot was trying to do.

"What are you doing, Hot Shot? It doesn't go there." Red Alert said, causing Hot Shot to freeze.

"No way! I was sure it was supposed to go here!" Poor Hot Shot, and he was so sure, too.

Hot Shot wasn't the only one making mistakes. Red Alert noticed that Optimus was doing the same thing with…displacement.

"No, Optimus, sir." The Autobot leader turned to Red Alert. "That panel goes on the other wall. Okay, listen. Everyone take a break, I'll finish up here."

"Hey, guys! Check out Red Alert. I think he just appointed himself 'King Bot'." Carlos said jokingly.

"Well, by the looks of it he sure knows what he's doing." Rad agreed.

"He probably made himself 'King of the Lab' as well." I commented.

Rad and Carlos looked at me confused.

"'King of the Lab'?" Carlos asked.

"What? Haven't you seen Bones before on TV?"

"…Maybe…"

"Hey, wait a second! Has anyone seen Jetfire?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah! Where is he?" Carlos asked.

"Eh… He's probably just slacking off somewhere." We turned to see Hot Shot kneeling down next to us before standing up straight. "And I think I'm gonna join him cause I don't have a clue about all this techno geek stuff. See ya!"

With that Hot Shot left the room and Rad groaned a bit.

"Oh, hey Hot Shot! Wait up!" Carlos called.

We ran after the yellow Autobot as we made his way down the hallway. Upon hearing Carlos he stopped and turned around to face us.

"So what's the plan here, anyway?" Carlos asked. "Are all you guys heading back to Cybertron once your shuttle is up and running?" We now stood in front of Hot Shot looking up at him. "Well, c'mon! What's the scoop?"

"Are mission on Earth is to recover every single Mini-Con. And until that job is completed we stay put. That's the 'scoop'." Hot Shot replied.

I could see the concerned looks on my friends faces and I realized that I was probably the only one that was…somewhat clueless about the Autobots' mission. But if what Hot Shot said was true…

"But eventually…you are going back?" Rad asked.

"You betcha. And honestly, I can hardly wait."

I felt the heart sinking feeling as I suddenly felt a mixture of disappointment and sadness. I hadn't known the Autobots for long, but they would leave when all the Mini-Cons were found. I had no idea how long or how soon that would be, but I didn't want them to leave. I realized it was selfish of me to want them to stay, but if I thought of it I couldn't blame them. If I had been away from home for so long I'd probably get homesick too.

'_How could I be so selfish…?_' I thought sadly.

"But don't worry." Hot Shot continued. "One day we'll all come back here. I mean, after all, I think I'd really start to miss you guys. You know what I mean?"

"Hey I got a question. How come Jetfire doesn't _act _like Second In Command?" Rad asked.

"Yeah, I know! The dude just seems to slack off all the time." Carlos commented.

"He's not at _all_ like Optimus!" Alexis said.

Carlos had been standing in front of Alexis but when he saw Hot Shot he ran out of the way.

"And he's not as good _looking_ as me, _either_!" Hot Shot said, leaning over Alexis so that his head was looking at her from upside down. I honestly thought it was funny.

"Well…I suppose so." Alexis looked away. "You do have a certain _rugged _charm."

Hot Shot seemed to be surprised by Alexis' statement (his mouth was in an 'o' shape) as he stood straight up, lightly laughing as he pointed to himself.

"Huh? You seriously think I'm 'hot stuff'?" He looked hopeful.

"Hey! Don't let it go to your head, alright?" Alexis turned to us. "What a poser."

We laughed.

"How about you, Valerie?" Hot Shot suddenly asked, catching my attention. I turned to look at him to find the yellow Autobot gazing down at me with a hopeful look in his blue optics. "Do you think I'm hot stuff?"

My face heated up at his question and I looked away in an attempt to hide it.

"W-well…u-um…I-I…I-I g-guess so…" I said nervously.

"That's great!" Hot Shot laughed.

"You walked right into that one." Alexis told me.

'_Don't I know it._' I thought.

We continued down the hallway and I noticed a door that was opened and I could faintly hear the sound of someone talking, followed by the sound of shooting. We walked inside to find Jetfire standing in front of a monitor watching something.

"An impressive display of firepower, Cyclonus." Jetfire said to himself, unaware of our presence.

"Hey, Jetfire." Hot Shot asked, causing said Autobot to turn and face him. "What's up?"

"I was just reviewing some data on our last battle with the Decepticons." Jetfire turned back to the monitor.

"Huh, we thought you were just slacking off."

"Ah, he's doing his homework." Alexis stated. Hot Shot and Jetfire turned to look at her. "Unlike a few _others _I just won't mention."

"Hey! Did you just diss us, Alexis?" Carlos asked.

Alexis and I laughed. When I was down laughing I looked up at the monitor and saw Alexis and Rad in their orange suits as they watched Optimus battle Starscream.

"Check it out! Hey, that was the first time Optimus went up against Megatron!" Rad exclaimed excitedly.

"High Wire transformed to become Preceptor!" Carlos added.

Next the monitor showed Hot Shot in his vehicle form skidding on the ice he was driving on as he dodged the attacks the Decepticons were firing at him with. Were they in the artic?

"And remember how Hot Shot and Carlos nearly became swiss cheese?" Alexis asked.

"Oh man! Don't even go there or I'll end up in therapy!" Carlos said.

It then showed Optimus' trailer transform into a mini base…? Whatever it was the Mini-Cons used the hose on it to get ride of the fire that was burning down the forest.

"Oh yeah! And remember the first time we saw Optimus transform into that really cool base? It was sweet!" Rad said.

"We might've lost that battle but at least we saved the forest."

There was another one of when the Autobots were fighting in the desert. Then it switched to Hot Shot holding a huge sword that reminded me of a light saber before a purple colored motorcycle drove right by him. The person (who was wearing a full black body suit with a black helmet) riding the motorcycle was actually a…Mini-Con(?) and transformed into what appeared to be a helmet for the vehicle that was actually a transformer, covering his face before an Autobot symbol appeared on his chest.

"_I'm a bit of a drifter. Maybe that's why I'm here._" The purple transformer on the video said.

"Wait a second! Who's _that_?" Jetfire asked, voicing the question I was going to ask as well.

"That's Sideways." Rad answered.

"Sideways?" I asked, feeling confused.

"He is a lowlife." Carlos said. The way he said it made it sound like this Sideways was the worst thing in the world. "He pretended to be an Autobot and then he deserted us!"

"He totally tricked us and he had full run of our base and everything." Alexis added.

Jetfire turned to look at Hot Shot.

"Yeah… That virus even had me fooled." Hot Shot admitted. "Then he had the gall to go and steal the Star Saber from me."

"Hmph!" Jetfire turned back to the monitor. "_Sideways,_ huh? Looks like a lowlife to me.

"So…he's a Decepticon?" I asked quietly.

"Exactly, Valerie!" Carlos replied.

"At least that's what it seems…" Jetfire commented, crossing his arms in front on his chest.

We continued watching the footage on the monitor for awhile and I was surprised at what I missed. To think Alexis, Rad, and Carlos had gone on all these missions, while I had been at home working on school work completely oblivious to what they were doing. They…they were brave, risking their lives to help the Autobots collect the Mini-Cons. But me? I was…a coward. And I was useless… The last mission I was on proved it.

"That's weird…" Jetfire suddenly said.

"Uh, what's weird?" Hot Shot asked.

"Are you really _sure _he's a Decepticon?" Jetfire uncrossed his arms and looked down at us.

"Huh?"

"But he pulled a fast one on us! What else could he be, Jetfire?" Carlos asked.

"Don't be so quick to judge. Check _this _out." Jetfire turned back to the monitor and we watched as Hot Shot and Blurr were trying to get away from Cyclonus (who was flying after them laughing maniacally and shooting at them), but suddenly something shot at the Decepticon and causing him to crash to the ground. Suddenly Jetfire paused the footage. "Here. I'll zoom in."

He zoomed into one of the cliffs in the surrounding area and we all gasped when we saw Sideways aiming the gun on his arm as if he had just fired at something…or _Cyclonus_!

"Holy cow!" Carlos exclaimed

"It was Sideways who fired that shot on Cyclonus." Jetfire stated.

"How can you be so sure?" Hot Shot asked. "Maybe it's just a video glitch."

"I don't think so. I've watched this footage a 100 times and it's Sideways alright."

"I agree, Jetfire. And I didn't see _any_ sign of a digital video edit." Alexis said.

"But why in the world was he helping us out? I still don't get it!" Hot Shot was confused.

"Yeah! Something here still doesn't make any sense to me." Carlos said.

"And to me either." Rad agreed. "Something…something is wrong here…"

Rad was probably right. Something was wrong about what was happening in the footage. If Sideways had betrayed the Autobots, then that meant he was a Decepticon. But the footage showed that he shot at Cyclonus, one of his allies, when he could have shot at Hot Shot and Blurr. What did this mean? Whose side was Sideways _really _on?

"Boo!"

I screamed, jumping in fright as I quickly spun around to see Billy laughing his head off at scaring me; Fred wasn't far away from him. I started shaking from being scared and Alexis ran up to me before wrapping her arms around me in a comforting hug.

"It's okay." She told me.

"What's the big deal? I was only kidding." Billy said, sounding puzzled.

"You scared her, that's what!" Alexis snapped. "You know she's jumpy."

I could feel a bunch of eyes watching me and I felt a bit self-conscious about it, especially knowing that one of the stares belonged to Jetfire. What did he think about seeing me like that?

"Geez… Sorry, Valerie. I didn't mean to." Billy said.

"It's fine. Just don't do it again." I told him.

"So…can we trust Sideways, or what's the deal?" Rad asked.

"I wish I had an answer for you, Rad." Jetfire answered. "It's like the old saying, 'a good defense is the best offense.' So I think we just keep our eye on him."

"Boy, I wish I knew." Billy said.

"Yeah! Me too, Billy." Carlos agreed.

"Hey! When are we gonna eat?" Fred randomly said.

"Would you just forget about your stomach for 5 minutes, Fred? We should listen to Jetfire!"

"You know, I guess it would help if we knew exactly what Sideways' intentions here on Earth were." Rad stated.

"To collect the Mini-Cons. What else, Rad?"

"Wait! If you think about it for a minute he's had chances to steal the shield _and _the Star Saber." Alexis said.

"Yeah, that's right!" Fred realized.

"Good point." Carlos said.

"Well, n-not to change the subject or anything, but is anyone getting hungry?" We were all quiet as we stared at Fred. "Because I am."

'_I swear, that boy…_' I thought, somewhat annoyed.

"You _never _stop, do ya?" Jetfire commented.

"So then we all agree? For now, Sideways can't be trusted?" Alexis asked.

"Right! Uh…You got it! Yep! Can't be trusted! _Nooo_ sirree! He's definitely off the list!"

I mentally laughed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_(Some time later)_

I stood with my friends as the Autobots got ready to leave. It turned out that apparently the Decepticons had been detected somewhere and the Autobots were going to fight them. I spotted Jetfire and ran over to him.

"Jetfire!" I called. Jetfire turned around to see me.

"What is it, Valerie?" He asked, kneeling down in front of me.

I looked to the side.

"I wanted to tell you…" I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts before looking up at Jetfire. "Please be careful…okay?"

"Hey, don't worry about it! I can handle it!" I frowned slightly from what he said, which he caught onto. "Uh…I mean I will! I'll be careful…"

"Looks like she has you wrapped around her finger, Jetfire." Smokescreen said jokingly.

"Hey! You better watch yourself!" Jetfire retorted.

I felt my face heat up slightly. What is with everyone today?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I stood with everyone around the monitor. This was my second time watching the Autobots battle from the monitor. They continued fighting each other until a huge (and I mean huge) thing that looked like a battleship appeared. It landed on the ground before sliding down towards the water where it now settled. It started firing at the Autobots, forcing them to run and take cover; the Decepticons started firing at them as well. Smokescreen fell to the ground after getting hit and Hot Shot ran to help him, but then Starscream started firing at them. Jetfire transformed to take on the Starscream. But the overall situation was bad.

"Aw, man! They're getting thrashed!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Yeah, and that battleship thing is smoking them, but good." Billy commented.

"Isn't there something we can do, Rad?"

"Hey! Don't look at me! I don't have a clue!" Rad replied.

"Guys! Check it out! Hot Shot and Blurr!" Alexis said.

We all turned back to the monitor just in time to Hot Shot and Blurr combine with their Mini-Cons (and dodging enemy fire from the Decepticons) and drive into the water and that was were we lost track of them since we could even see them anymore.

"Oh, man! What in the world are they up to now, Red Alert?" Carlos asked.

"Good question." Red Alert replied. "I believe they're coming around to attack the ship's blind spot."

"Blind spot?" Billy asked.

"I get it! If they attack from below, that battleship has no defense!" Rad realized.

"And not to mention a clear shot!" I added.

Jetfire was being chased by Thrust, but suddenly the shuttle mech transformed and grabbed the Decepticon from behind; was flying towards the ocean, but the Decepticon disappeared and forced him to stop in midair. Jetfire tried to pull off a 'Leroy Jenkins' by flying in and shooting at the battleship, only to get fired upon by said battleship along with Thrust and his Mini-Con.

"Oh, man! Jetfire's getting blasted from all sides!" Rad exclaimed.

"Get out of there!" Carlos cried. Could they even hear us?

"He's _so _doomed!" Billy said. We suddenly heard an explosion. "What was that?"

On the monitor two pillars of water shot up into the air and my only guess was that it was Hot Shot and Blurr's doing. After awhile I could see the two Autobots' hands as they pushed the battleship over, causing a huge wave on impact. Hot Shot and Blurr stood on top of it before aiming at Thrust, who flew away. We all cheered since things seemed to be going fine.

"Yes! They did it!" Alexis said.

"Hmm-mm! They sure did!" Rad agreed. "Now all they have to do is tract down Megatron and this war will be over!"

"I don't think it's that easy, Rad." I told him. "It's not like chess where if you take down the king you win."

Rad laughed nervously.

"Hmm…" Red Alert seemed to be thinking about something.

Suddenly a alarm went off and I started to wonder what was going on.

"Huh?" Rad was confused.

Alexis ran over to the monitor and started rapidly typing on the keyboard.

"Hang on. I'll put up the big screen." Alexis brought up a multicolored screen. "Look! We just detected another Mini-Con!"

"A Mini-Con?" I asked.

"But isn't that the same one we detected before?" Rad asked.

"This is a new one. Wait! I mean two!" Alexis exclaimed.

That confused the boys.

"You sure, Alexis?" Carlos asked.

"If you include the first one, that makes three!" Billy realized.

"Does anybody have a candy bar? I'm feeling weak." Fred…! You and your stomach!

"It looks like we got a job to do!" Rad said. "So where are they?"

"Hang on, Rad. Something weird's happening." Alexis said.

"Wha?"

"The icon showing where the first Mini-Con is seems to be frozen. And the other is pointing up into the sky."

'_The sky?_' I thought. '_How could it be up there?_'

"Call me loco, but what's all that mumbo-jumbo mean, Alexis?" Carlos asked.

"I haven't figured it out myself, Carlos." Alexis replied.

"And we better hurry." Rad said.

Suddenly High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock rushed into the room bleeping all at once, jumping around and waving their arms in the air. I felt confused since I was unable to understand what they were saying.

"What are they saying?" I asked.

"They're saying that they've come to life!" Rad answered.

"And the frozen icon means there's a Mini-Con right here on the base!" Alexis exclaimed.

"Then it's up to us to find that one, guys!"

"You're right, Rad!"

It was quiet for a bit before the Mini-Cons started bleeping again and they soon ran off. They wanted us to follow them!

"C'mon! Let's follow him!"

"I'm coming, too!" I said.

"I'll stay put and monitor the situation from here, you guys!"

"Good plan, Alexis!" Rad yelled as we ran after the Mini-Cons.

High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock led us to a part of the base that seemed abandoned. Not to mention dark.

"I really hate to complain, guys, but could we rest for awhile? I wore the wrong shoes and I'm starting to get a blister!" Fred complained.

"Oh, would you forget about your feet, Fred? We've got a Mini-Con to find." Rad said.

"Yeah, and you might want to change your socks once in a while, Freddy-boy!" Billy commented.

"Yeah, dude! They reek _big _time!" Carlos added. "Hey, maybe these three Mini-Cons are the kind that join together to form another weapon. Like the Star Saber."

"Oh no! Now I gotta go to the bathroom!" Fred complained, again.

"Oh! You just went 10 minutes ago!" Billy said.

"Oh! Would you _stop_ whining, Fred?" Carlos asked, clearly just as annoyed as I was starting to get.

"I can't. I was born this way."

I sighed, trying so hard not to snap.

"People aren't born complainers, Fred." I said. "It's _not _genetic."

"Gene-wha?" Fred asked.

"Forget it…" I forgot that he wasn't exactly the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.

_(15 minutes later)_

"Uh, no big deal or nothing, guys, but uh…do we know where we're going?" Carlos asked. High Wire started bleeping, his head rotated 180 degrees to look at Carlos. That was actually pretty neat. "Sorry, High Wire. I didn't mean to doubt you, dude."

"Hey, guys! My thighs are rubbing and my underwear is riding up." Fred complained.

"Would you stop complaining? It's really annoying." I said.

"We're almost there!" Rad told us

"You know, Rad? It always amazes me to think we're inside an ancient space ship." Billy said.

"Wait! We're actually inside a _space ship_?" I asked, my eyes wide in surprise.

"Oh, that's right. We never did tell you that, Valerie. Although I doubt it was in this kind of shape when it crashed here."

"Yeah! Good point. Really good point."

Suddenly we heard someone scream and Rad, Billy, and I whipped around quickly.

"Carlos?" Rad asked, shining his flashlight at the Hispanic boy.

"Just don't look at me! I was freaked as you!" Carlos said.

"Then it's Fred!"

"Oww…"

That was Fred's voice, alright. And it was coming from a hole in the floor, too! I know for certain that it hadn't been there before! We ran over to the hole and were careful not to fall in.

"Fred! If you're down there, answer me!"

"Hey, Rad! Why don't you try moving the light around." Rad did what Carlos suggested and we could see Fred when the light shone on him, along with a set of steps leading down into the hole.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. I just fell." Fred told us.

"Well, are you okay, buddy?" Billy asked.

"Yeah. I'm alright. But there's something down here you should see." Fred was looking at something.

"Wha?"

"You are _not _gonna believe what I just found!" Okay, maybe that fall did something to him.

"Hey, Fred! A-are you sure you didn't land on your head?" Carlos asked.

"You gotta see it! I-it's bright, a-and it's shiny!"

"Are you serious?" We all asked at the same time.

We quickly went down the stairs (while also being careful not to fall) in order to see what Fred found.

"See it? Over there!" Fred said excitedly.

"Let's let the Mini-Cons scope it out." Rad suggested. With that High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock ran off in the direction the object was in, seeming to be bleeping in excitement. "Okay, but be careful."

"Hey! Wait for me!"

We apparently left Fred behind. Rad was the first to reach the object, which turned out to be a Mini-Con panel, and started sweeping the dirt off of it before it started glowing. I watched in amazement as the panel formed a Mini-Con himself (whose right arm looked like the tip of a rocket, while the left one looked like the thrusters). The new Mini-Con stared at us with it's gold optics and bleeped at us. The boys chuckled quietly.

"My name's Rad, and it's sure nice to finally meet you."

"You can call me Carlos!"

"The name's Billy!"

"I'm Valerie." I said.

"Oh, and I'm Frederick!"

"We better get you up to the base!" Rad said. The new Mini-Con just stared at us before tilting his head to the side. But he still made no action to indicate that he would follow us. It was almost as if he was being cautious about us. "I wonder what's up with him?"

"I think he's…confused or something." Carlos guessed. High Wire walked up to the new Mini-Con, but the latter suddenly fired at him and taking us by surprise. "Huh? Hey, watch it!"

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Rad asked. It was barely noticeable, but I saw the new Mini-Con shake slightly before he ran off down the corridor. "Where you goin'? Come back here! We're your friends!"

We started chasing after the Mini-Con. Did he think that _we _were the enemy? Eventually we managed to corner him since he came to a dead end, but what we didn't expect was him shooting at us. I looked back at the new Mini-Con and watched as he pulled his right arm away and brought it in front of his face to look at it. High Wire took that chance and lunged at him in an attempt to capture the Mini-Con, but at the last minute he got out of the way and ran towards us. I squeezed my eyes shut in fear, expecting to get hurt, but nothing happened. I opened my eyes and tried to see where the Mini-Con went, only to find that he was hiding behind Rad (who was standing behind me).

"Rad, do something! And quick!" Carlos cried.

It was then I realized that the Mini-Con was scared. Why else would he be hiding behind Rad. Grindor and Sureshock tried to approach them, but seemed to be unsure if they should continue.

"Hang on!" Rad told us as he stepped away from the Mini-Con and turned to face him.

"Are you nuts?"

"Run for it, Rad!" Billy said.

"We're real sorry for scaring you like that. We didn't mean to. Are you alright?" Rad asked the scared Mini-Con. From where I was I could see that he was shaking again and I felt sorry for him. "We're not your enemy. We're your friends."

Carlos and Fred freaked out and held onto each other when the Mini-Con merely lifted his head while Billy went into a position similar to what we had to do when doing storm drills in school (with the exception that his hands were over his head). Suddenly High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock combined to form a slightly bigger robot.

"Inceptor?" Rad cried out. Inceptor (as it turned out the three Mini-Cons were called when they combined) got into a stance that indicated that he was ready to fight if the new Mini-Con did anything. "Holy cow!"

Suddenly I felt something grab the sides my arms slightly and looked behind my back, only to be surprised when I found the new Mini-Con hiding behind me.

"W-what…?" I asked.

"See?" Rad pointed out.

"Hey! He's just as freaked out as we are!" Carlos stated.

"And scaring us was his defense mechanism!" Fred added.

I felt my expression soften up a bit when I looked at the Mini-Con and saw that he was still shaking slightly as he bleeped something I couldn't understand. For once I really wanted to know what it was the Mini-Cons were saying.

"It's okay. You don't need to be scared." I told him, turning to face him. "Could you tell me your name?" The Mini-Con started bleeping again and my eyes widened in surprise when I made out what he was saying. "'Sky Blast?' So your name is Sky Blast."

Sky Blast nodded.

"It's a pretty name. I enjoy looked at the sky whenever I get the chance."

"You're actually _talking _to him?" Carlos asked me.

"Yeah." I turned back to Sky Blast. "How about you come back with us? I'm sure you don't want to stay down here any longer."

Sky Blast bleeped something to me and I smiled.

"Don't worry. No one's going to hurt you." I told him.

I gently grabbed on of Sky Blast's hands as we all headed back to where Alexis and Red Alert were.

_(30 minutes later)_

"Alexis! Over here!" Carlos called as we all came into the room.

Alexis lifted her head and looked at us.

"Hey, Alexis! We found one!" Rad said.

"You did?" She asked, running over to us. I could see concern on her face. "Okay, we gotta send him to Optimus, pronto-"

"What?-"

"-and I mean hurry!" Alexis continued, ignoring the fact that Rad interrupted her. "They need him to combine with the other Mini-Cons to form the Requiem Blaster."

"So… Did they recover the other two?" Rad asked.

"Not yet, but they will." Alexis turned to Sky Blast and took a step towards him, looking hopeful. "Right?" Sky Blast hid behind me again. "Hey! What's up with him?"

"Ah, nothing. He's just a little scared, that's all." Rad told her.

I glanced at Sky Blast in concern.

"Don't worry, we'll protect you, Alexis!" Carlos said jokingly, smiling as he held his hands behind his head.

"I don't have time for your jokes, Carlos, understand?" Alexis told them, before turning back to where Rad and I stood. "Don't you guys realize the Autobots are in big trouble?"

Alexis pointed us to the monitor and I noticed that while we were away Optimus and Jetfire and combined into their Jet Convoy mode. But things weren't looking good for the Autobots. How did everything change all of a sudden?

"No! It looks like Optimus is hurt!" She cried out.

"That's it! I've got to help him!" Red Alert declared, running towards the launching dock.

"Red Alert! No, wait!"

"Huh?" Red Alert stopped.

"The only way to help Optimus and the others is with the Requiem Blaster." Alexis turned to Sky Blast. "You just gotta help us, or otherwise Megatron is going to win." I glanced at him and saw that he was scared again. "Oh, please!"

Sky Blast shook his head before hiding his head behind my back.

"Oh no! I think he's afraid to go." Rad said.

"But he's our last chance, Rad! Without his help this Earth is doomed!" Alexis told him.

Rad was unsure what to do at first, but then he turned to where Sky Blast was hiding behind me.

"'Kay! Will you go out there if I promise to go with you?" Sky Blast tilted his head down. "And you don't have to worry because Red Alert will protect us!" He continued to be quiet. "You sure?"

"What if I came as well, Sky Blast?" I suddenly found myself asking.

Everyone looked at me shocked. They remembered what happened the last time I went on a mission with them. To be honest I was still scared, but if I was able to get Sky Blast to go just by coming with him…

'_This has to work._' I thought. '_If not, I'm not sure what will._'

I watched as Sky Blast tilted his head down again and I was relieved to see that he agreed.

"C'mon! Let's go! Quick!" Alexis told us. "We don't have any time to waste!"

It turned out that now only were Rad and I going, but Carlos also decided to join us as well. After getting suited up in our…orange suits we joined Red Alert in the launching dock and loaded up inside him. Rad sat in the driver's seat, Carlos on the passenger side, Sky Blast in between them, and me? I was squished between Carlos and Sky Blast. Lucky me, right? Too bad there wasn't a back seat. At least to my knowledge…

"Don't leave my side and you'll be safe." Red Alert told us.

"Hey! Don't worry! These guys are _real _professionals!" Carlos said, looking at Sky Blast.

Sky Blast nodded while bleeping a bit.

"Launch!"

With that we went through the portal and we soon appeared on the battlefield away from the conflict where we would be safe. There was suddenly an explosion went off to our left which caused Sky Blast to shake in fear.

"Hey! It's okay!" Rad told him.

"Yeah! Nothing to worry about!" Carlos added. All that changed when another explosion went off and he freaked out, holding his hands over his ears as he yelled! That did nothing for my ears except hurt them.

"Ow, my ears…" I said quietly.

"Carlos!" Rad scolded.

Carlos realized what he was doing and quickly covered his mouth with both of his hands.

'_My ears are still ringing…_' I thought.

"Okay, boys…and girl. Check the monitor and find out where those signals are coming from." Red Alert told us.

"Right! I'll check it out!" Rad said.

I turned to Sky Blast and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. Don't be scared." I told him, trying not to show that I was scared too. Maybe I should listen to myself for once.

I looked at the front windshield and saw something flying towards us and my eyes widened when I realized it was Thrust! But then Blurr blocked him by getting in front us before they started fighting each other. We got out of Red Alert so that he could transform before joining Blurr in fighting Thrust. Trust started running away and Blurr chased after him.

"See? I told you there was nothing to worry about." Rad told Sky Blast.

We continued watching the battle from where we stood and I tried so hard to be brave.

"What…are we waiting for?" Carlos asked. Rad seemed hesitant. "C'mon, Rad! We're just wasting time standing around here doing nothing! If we don't get our butts in gear soon there won't be any Autobots left to save!" Suddenly we heard an explosion from Blurr and Red Alert's fight and Sky Blast hid behind Rad in fear. "That's it!"

"Carlos… The Mini-Cons just don't like to fight." Rad said.

"What a load of trash, Rad!"

Sky Blast bleeped, the tone sounding scared. I didn't blame the Mini-Con one bit.

"Don't you remember?" Rad asked. "The Mini-Cons were designed as laborers to work on Cybertron. It was only the Decepticons who wanted them to fight. That's why the Autobots load them on a ship and sent them off into space, to keep them out of the hands of Megatron. But now…it seems the only way we can win this war is with the _help _of the Mini-Cons."

"That's _exactly _my point!"

"Sorry, but you can't rush into this, Carlos. You can't force them into battle. You have to wait until they're ready to fight and that's exactly what we're gonna do."

Suddenly a blast was shot from above and was coming right at us.

"Take cover! We're under attack!" Red Alert yelled.

We got on the ground trying to protect ourselves from the attack, but then Red Alert took the hit.

"Red Alert's been hit!" Rad cried.

Red Alert landed in front of us and I knew he was hurt!

"Red Alert!" Carlos called out.

"S-stay back! P-please!" The Autobot told us when we were about to run over to him.

Another blast was coming right for us and I squeezed my eyes shut in fear as I started shaking. I heard the explosion that followed, but we didn't feel any pain. I opened my eyes and saw a huge pile of debris in front of us and it was…moving?

"You guys alright?" To my surprise Hot Shot emerged from the pile of debris.

"Hot Shot!" Rad exclaimed.

"Sorry for taking so long. But I ran into little trouble with Cyclonus back there. Boy, that is one _disturbed_ Decepticon!" Hot Shot told us. He seemed to notice Sky Blaster with us. "Oh, good! There's the Mini-Con!"

"But he's not ready to fight yet!"

"I really don't know how to break this to you, Rad, but we don't have time right now to convince him to help us. I don't know how much more of a pounding Optimus can take. What we need now is to find those other two Mini-Cons, and quick!"

"But Hot Shot!" I said.

"And then what, Hot Shot? What if the other two don't want to fight either?" Rad asked.

Sky Blast suddenly bleeped something before walking away from us. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on until I heard a tune of bleeps that sounded like…a song? It sounded like he was singing.

"What's…that?" Red Alert asked.

"That's so bizarre…" Hot Shot said.

"He's calling the other Mini-Cons." Rad said.

I noticed that I didn't hear the conflict from the Autobots and Decepticons fighting each other. But then I saw a green beam of light shoot down from where Optimus and Megatron were and hit the ground. And soon the song stopped.

"Aw, dude! This is totally _awesome_!" Carlos said, sounding amazed.

"Yeah…" Rad said after awhile, although he sounded unsure.

Suddenly I spotted Optimus falling from the sky and my eyes widened when I realized he wasn't in his Jet Convoy mode. That meant he and Jetfire must've separated!

"Look, Rad! There he is!" Carlos yelled.

Sky Blast started running away.

"Hey! Where you going?" Rad asked. We started chasing after the Mini-Con, but Sky Blaster stopped and started singing again before transforming into a small rocket "The Mini-Cons!"

"They're alive!"

Sky Blast flew into the air and I noticed two other dots in the air flying towards Optimus. I realized they were the other Mini-Cons when they started combining together. Thrust suddenly appeared out of nowhere and the two transformers started fighting over the object the three Mini-Cons transformed into before a white beam came out of it, almost hitting Megatron. My eyes widened in surprised, now knowing that the object Optimus and Thrust were fighting over was the Requiem Blaster!

Optimus kicked Thrust out of the way before aiming the Requiem Blaster at the water. He fired the weapon, causing the water below to make a huge splash upon impact and slow the Autobot leader's fall. Suddenly a blinding white light appeared and I covered my eyes to block it out. When the light disappeared we found Optimus standing on dry land while the water circled around him from the Requiem Blaster's blast.

I just stared in awe, realizing that the Requiem Blaster wasn't just a mere weapon. At first I thought the Mini-Cons that made up the Requiem Blaster were scared to fight, but apparently that wasn't the case. It turned out that they were actually afraid of the power they possessed. They couldn't use it for anything else but fight.

* * *

ATE: That concludes chap 5 of this story. As you may have noticed at the part where High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock combined into Inceptor, Rad had actually called him 'Leader-1' in the show, so I fixed it. So yes, this chap covered 3 episodes (hence why it took so long to update). As I've stated in all my previous chaps so far, I'm opened to any suggestions that anyone would want to see in appear in this story and I will give credit to anyone's ideas I use. Just write them in your reviews, that's all.

Please remember to review! ;D


	6. Runaway

ATE: I can't believe I took so long to update again. So much has happened that delayed this a bit. I had finals, a senior trip to Greece and Rome (but I did work on this a bit while I had free time during said trip), and today or last night (May 27th) I had a graduation ceremony, meaning that I've finally graduated high school. I actually almost cried when they should a picture slide show of all our baby pictures but I tried not to. Anyways, I'd like to thank **Diamond White **and **Neverever **for reviewing the previous chap. I hope you all enjoy reading this long chap, which is based of Episode 30 (Runaway) from Transformers Armada.

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, or Pokemon. I only own my OC Valerie.

* * *

Chapter 6: Runaway

"But…why?" Jetfire asked, seeming anxious. "You saw it's _power_! If _we _use the Requiem Blaster it'll give us the upper hand that _we _need to defeat the Decepticons!"

"Alright! Let's do it, Optimus!" Hot Shot declared. "If you want, I'll take care of them myself by getting into their base! Okay?"

"Even if we _were _to charge into the Decepticon base…and we do suffer damages because of it, I still think it's worth it for us to use the Requiem Blaster." Blurr added.

"I agree with Blurr! This is a _gift_!" Jetfire stated. "Let's do it, Optimus! We can get rid of the Decepticons in _one _fell swoop!"

"It makes sense." Red Alert admitted.

"Optimus." Scavenger said. "You're call."

Optimus seemed to be hesitant.

I couldn't help but feel somewhat upset as I watched as the Autobots tried to persuade Optimus. Ever since they obtained the Requiem Blaster from their last battle with the Decepticons the Autobots had started arguing with each other over what they should do with it and how to use it. I could understand how they must've felt, but it was wrong. I was disappointed that Jetfire would be one of the Autobots that wanted to use it for the purposes that they were stating.

'_I thought you would be better than this._' I thought sadly, feeling my eyes water a bit. '_But I guess I really haven't known you long enough to know for sure._'

I felt a hand on my shoulder, causing me to turn around to see Rad, Billy, and Fred with Sky Blast, Payload, and Astroscope (who were the three Mini-Cons that Requiem Blaster).

"C'mon." Rad whispered so the Autobots didn't hear him.

I nodded before following my friends as we led the Mini-Cons out of the base. Earlier Rad had informed me of his plan to hide the Mini-Cons somewhere they'd be safe (though he didn't exactly say where).

Suddenly one of the Mini-Cons started bleeping.

"Shh… You guys have gotta stay quiet or else we'll get caught!" Rad whispered.

"Rad, do you _really _think we should be doing this?" Billy asked quietly.

"Don't worry about it! We're actually doing these Mini-Cons a big favor. You see, they don't wanna fight, but if they stay here they might end up being used as weapons."

"Hey, Rad! Keep it down! We're on the run, _remember_? Boy!" Fred told him.

"Oh!" Rad placed a hand over his mouth.

We went outside to find Carlos and Alexis waiting for us.

"Hey, you guys! You guys! Over here!" Carlos called as he waved at us.

"Hey, Rad. How's it goin'?" Alexis asked.

"Hey!" Rad greeted.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"I understand how you all feel." Optimus told them.

"Then we'll do it!" Jetfire said excitedly, taking a step towards his leader.

"Before I make my final decision I want to talk to the Mini-Cons that create the Requiem Blaster."

"_What_?" Jetfire was shocked.

Optimus turned to look at Sparkplug.

"Sparkplug, go get the Mini-Cons for me."

Sparkplug bleeped in confirmation before running off, only to come back no later bleeping worriedly.

"What's the matter _now_?" Jetfire turned around to face the yellow Mini-Con, feeling irritated. "Gahh! Does anyone _know _what this Mini-Con is _talking _about?"

Sparkplug started bleeping frantically, waving his hands up and down. This still didn't change anything and it didn't help that Jetfire himself couldn't _understand _what the Mini-Con was _saying_!

"What?" Hot Shot exclaimed, sounding shocked. "He just said the Mini-Cons were gone!"

Optimus gasped.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen the kids around today, either!" Blurr stated.

"Then let's move out and find them!" Optimus declared.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"**The bus heading for Central City will be leaving from platform 7.**" The female voice announced over the speakers."**All ticket holders please line up at platform 7 now**."

I was with Alexis, Rad, and Carlos as we were ordering tickets for our bus ride, while Fred and Billy were watching the three Mini-Cons, who we had disguised as civilians with the clothes we had them wear (although I was surprised that no one suspected them of being anything else but civilians, since they looked awkward). Apparently, it turned out that Carlos was the one buying all of our tickets, which left me feeling guilty since he had to pay for mine.

"Okay! Now that we have our tickets we can head back to where Fred and Billy are!" Carlos said, smiling.

"I really feel guilty now. I'm sorry you had to buy my ticket, Carlos." I told him.

"Aw, don't sweat it! That's what allowance is for!"

'_If I were to say that in front of my parents I wouldn't hear the end of it._' I thought.

We headed back to where Fred, Billy, and the Mini-Cons were waiting for us.

"I got the tickets!" Carlos said excitedly.

Suddenly I heard the sound of a dog growling and barking and turned to where the sound was coming from, only to have my eyes widened when I saw a woman with a dog in her lap as she held out a box to one of the Mini-Cons, which said dog was barking at.

"Oh no, you don't!" Rad said, running over to the Mini-Con and grabbing a hold of his extended arm. "Sorry, miss, he's on a diet!"

"Hey! Our bus is leaving!" Alexis called.

"See ya!" Rad started pushing the disguised Mini-Con away from the waiting area, leaving the woman confused. We made it over to a wall where the Alexis and Carlos were waiting for us. "Whoo! That was a close call! Man that could've _really _blown our cover!" He looked at Fred and Billy. "Hey! Why didn't you guys keep an eye on him?"

"Sorry." Fred said.

"It's Fred's fault." Billy said. "He was writing down recipes!"

"Hey!" Fred turned to look at Billy, seeming offended. "That is a _lie_."

"We better hurry and get on the bus!" Carlos told us.

"Guys! It's over this way!" Alexis stated, pointing in the direction that our bus was, where it sad on the curb waiting for us.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire stood waiting for Hot Shot and Blurr to get back from looking for the kids and the Mini-Cons. Since _they _were missing, that also meant Valerie was missing as well. So now he had another thing to worry about. Suddenly both Hot Shot and Blurr ran back into the room.

"Sir!" Hot Shot said, coming to a stop and stood at attention in front of Optimus. "They're not on the second level!"

"And D-Block, either!" Blurr added, standing next to him.

"Well, we've searched the whole base." Optimus said. "Hmm."

"But…but where could they have gone?" The yellow Autobot asked.

"This is no time to be playing a game of hide 'n _seek_!" Jetfire said, trying not to get frustrated. Though he was getting there.

"I know they wouldn't do that without telling us first." Smokescreen stated.

"That means…" Scavenger started, seeming to realize something.

"It means…that the Mini-Cons are gone!" Hot Shot exclaimed.

'_Slaggit!_" Jetfire thought.

"Optimus, sir?" Red Alert asked, turning to him.

"We'll have to search for them in the city." Optimus said. "Hot Shot, Blurr, I want you two to maintain constant radio contact."

"Yes, sir!" Both Hot Shot and Blurr said.

"Isn't that _great _news? I've been itching for a bit of action!" Jetfire said, following the other Autobots out of the room.

"Jetfire!"

"Huh?" Jetfire turned around to face Optimus, noticing that Scavenger was standing with him. He felt confused. "What is it, Optimus?"

"I want you to stay here and watch the base with Scavenger." Optimus told him.

"What?" Jetfire exclaimed, completely shocked. "But, Optimus! I want to come as well!"

'_And find Valerie!_' He added mentally.

"That's an order, Jetfire."

With that Optimus left. Jetfire felt frustrated that he wasn't able to go find the kids and the Mini-Cons with the others, but he wasn't about to show it. Oh no, he wasn't! He stood facing the monitor, watching the four feedback videos that surveyed a few roads. He started to feel impatient watching the monitor, but he mentally told himself to wait.

'_Give it some time_.' He thought. '_Hopefully Optimus and the others will find the kids and the Mini-Cons. If not these good ol' video feedbacks will probably pick up 'em up any…second…now._'

"**_Autobots! Anything to report?_**" Jetfire heard Optimus' voice ask over the monitor.

"**_No sign of the, Optimus_.**" Red Alert responded.

"**_There's nothing in my area, either_.**" Smokescreen said.

"**_Maybe they're not in this town anymore_.**" Hot Shot thought out loud.

"**_They have to be here!_**" Blurr stated."**_They couldn't have traveled that far!_**"

Jetfire was getting anxious. They still hadn't found them _yet_?

'_C'mon! These video feedback have to pick them up soon!_' He thought. '_Just wait. Any second now…_'

30 seconds passed. Then a minute. Now 5 minutes.

"D'ugh! This is _so BORING!_!" Jetfire exclaimed irritably, unable to take it anymore. What little patience he had left was now gone. "I dunno _why _I have to watch the _base_! I-I bet I could've found them on my own!"

"You'd stand out too much." Scavenger told him. "And we can't afford to let the people of this planet find out our identities yet. So for the time being you'll have to learn to blend in the way _I _have!"

"Pft! What's he _talking _about? He stands out _waaaay _more than _I _do!"

'_And I'm not the one who transforms into a _bulldozer_! How uncommon is it to see space shuttles in the sky lately?_' Jetfire tried to figure out what he could do, but then he suddenly remembered something! '_That's right! I'll try to figure out the riddle Valerie gave me! How did it go again?_'

"Now let's see… 'If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?'" He thought out loud to himself quietly.

'_This is going to take awhile…_' He was thankful that she at least gave him something to think about.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I sat in the back with Sky Blast between me and Rad. I was surprised how far out the bus was taking us.

"Hey, Rad?" I asked.

"What is it, Valerie?" He asked, turning to face me.

"Where _exactly _is this bus taking us?"

Rad chuckled a bit.

"You'll see." That was all he told me.

I started to feel a bit nervous. I didn't know where we were going and my parents didn't even know I was out of town. For all they know I was with my friends.

'_It isn't exactly a lie._' I thought.

I heard the Mini-Con sitting next to Alexis bleep excitedly a he looked out the window at a grocery store.

"Oh, that store?" Alexis said, indicating that that was what the Mini-Con was inquiring. "That's where we humans go and buy the food that we eat."

The Mini-Con sitting next to Carlos started bleeping excitedly when it spotted a baseball field.

"Oh, and look! That's a baseball field!" Carlos told him. "I'll teach ya how to play sometime."

Sky Blast was now bleeping excitedly and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Hah! They really like to learn!" Rad said as he faced me.

"It's amazing how curious they are. I don't blame them for being excited." I said.

Rad turned to Sky Blast and smiled.

"Ask me a question if you want!"

I smiled before staring out the window to my right at the scenery that we passed and I soon found my gaze drifting up to the sky. The sky… I still couldn't believe I was doing this, running away from the Autobots. Have they found out about the Mini-Cons missing? Were they looking for us? I couldn't help but wonder these things.

Suddenly the bus came to a stop and I soon realized that this was _our _stop as the others started making their way off the bus with the Mini-Cons and I soon followed. As soon as we all got off the bus drove away, leaving us coughing from the exhaust it left behind.

"Gimme a break! You wanna hide the Mini-Cons in a cornfield?" Billy asked.

I turned around and saw that Billy was right! We were standing in front of a cornfield.

"You bet!" Rad replied. "Why?"

Suddenly Rad, Carlos, and Alexis started laughing as if they were talking about an inside joke or something. I couldn't help but feel confused.

"We're going over there, silly!" Alexis said, slightly giggling as she pointed to an area _beyond _the cornfield.

We started walking through the cornfield and I was surprised at how tall the stalks were. After awhile we eventually made it out of the cornfield and were walking on a dirt path through the trees.

"Ah! Hey, Alexis. How much farther is it?" Carlos asked.

"We're almost there!" Alexis told him.

"C'mon!" Billy complained.

Fred groaned.

'_Oh no! He's gonna complain!_' I thought.

"I'm so hungry!" What do you know? I was right!

We soon stopped and I was surprised that we were at a farm of sorts.

"_Thaaat's_ it!" Alexis said when we all stopped.

"A farm..." I said quietly.

We made our way over to the old house and Rad banged on the door a few times before he managed to get it open. The inside of the house was worn down and had collected a lot of dust over the time that it had stayed abandoned.

"Huh! It's not exactly the grand hotel, is it?" Fred said.

"Come on, with a little TLC, this place will be good as new!" Alexis said optimistically.

"Well, how many years is that gonna take?" Billy asked.

"I know it's a little off the beaten path, but I think it's the perfect spot to hide the Mini-Cons until things cool off."

"It's the perfect spot for a little snack! Who wants waffles?" Ugh. Fred… Always thinking of food. And he even brought a waffle maker, too. "All I need now is an electrical outlet!" Fred started looking around for an electrical outlet.

That only meant one thing…

"Uh, Fred? There's no electricity in this place."

'_Thank you for confirming my suspicion, Alexis._' I thought.

"No way. That means I can't make my waffles…" Fred was disappointed.

"Here's a thought! Zip it!" Billy yelled.

"You guys! We've got more important things to think about than food!" Rad said, being the voice of reason.

So we all agreed to help get everything straight. Fred and Billy ran off with Sky Blast to the barn to set something up while Rad did the same thing on the porch with Astroscope. Carlos went off somewhere so I didn't know what he was doing, Alexis was setting up a mirror with Payload, and I was helping out by cleaning up the place, sweeping up the wooden floor with a broom I found earlier. But even as I was working I couldn't stop the thoughts that entered my head. I could clearly remember watching the Autobots arguing over the Mini-Cons like they were Pokémon cards instead of the sentient beings that they truly were. And to see Jetfire like that…I don't know, but it made me feel horrible. I couldn't help but feel like I saw the _real _Jetfire in that room arguing with his comrades, that the Jetfire I had spent my time around was only a cover up like the face mask he wore over hi mouth. I felt my eyes water up in tears, but I held them back as I tightened my grip around the wooden handle of the broom I held.

"Valerie?"

My head shot in the direction the voice came from and was surprised to see Alexis and Payload with her, and I knew instantly that she was concerned.

"Alexis!" I instantly started rubbing at my eyes in an attempt to hide the fact I had been close to crying. "I just got something in my eye, that's all. All this dust in this room and everything…"

I was surprised when Alexis wrapped her arms around me in a comforting hug and tensed up a bit.

"I've known you for a long time, so I know when you're upset about something. So why are you upset?" She asked.

"I can't stop thinking of what I saw earlier, before we left the base. The Autobots, they were arguing with each other about how they should use the Requiem Blaster against the Decepticons. They forgot that the Mini-Cons have a will of their own." I deliberately left out the bit having to do with Jetfire, but I quickly came up with an excuse to replace it. "Plus I'm feeling a bit homesick at the moment, too."

"Oh, that's right. You haven't really been this far out of town besides being in the last two missions you were on."

"Mom and Dad would freak out if they knew I was out here." I wiped at my tears to get rid of them.

Alexis giggled.

"Well hopefully they don't find out." Alexis unwrapped her arms from around me and stepped back. "Let's head outside and see what the others are up to."

I smiled, nodding my head in agreement before following Alexis and Payload out of the old house. Once outside I spotted Fred, Billy, and Sky Blast making their way to the front of the house while Rad, Carlos, and Astroscope were standing near some logs.

"Hey, guys! What're you up to?" Alexis asked.

"Oh, we were thinking of chopping up some of this wood. You never know when it'll get cold out." Rad told us.

Once the others came we started working on the wood. The Mini-Cons helped out by carrying some of the logs over and stacking them up while Rad and Alexis used a saw to cut them into smaller pieces, which went over to Carlos so that he could chop them up with an axe he found earlier.

"You know what? With all this wood we can heat up the stove and have a hot meal!" Fred exclaimed excitedly.

'_Of course he'd think of food._' I thought as I helped gather the chopped up wood. Then I realized something! '_Wait! Where's Billy?_'

"Hey, check this out!" I heard Billy's voice called.

"Huh?"

Billy's voice was coming from the side of the old house! We ran over to where we heard Billy earlier and soon found him. His back was to us and he was wearing a cowboy hat with what appeared to be cowboy outfit.

"What's going on?" Carlos asked. Carlos seemed to noticed what Billy was wearing. "Hey!"

"Cool!" Billy said, turning to face us and laughed. I noticed that he was holding a rope. "I'm Billy the kid, the baddest dude in the West!" He started swinging the rope around in the air like a cowboy. "Yee-haw!"

"Where'd you get that hat?"

"From over there!" Billy pointed to his left once he stopped swinging the rope. "There's a big pile of stuff!"

"No way! Cool!"

Carlos ran off to where the pile was and I couldn't help but giggle a bit. I definitely wasn't expecting this, but it was funny.

Later that day we were all hanging out in the field relaxing (Carlos managed to get his hands on a cowboy hat). I gazed up at the sky mesmerized at how beautiful it looked before returning my focus back to the necklace I was working on using the orange flowers I had gathered earlier. I was almost done with it, too. I heard one of the Mini-Cons coming over to wear I was and looked up to see Payload gazing at the almost completed flower necklace in my hands. I smiled, knowing that we was curious as to what I was doing.

"I'm making a necklace out of these flowers. It's almost done." I told him. "Would you like to watch?"

Payload bleeped a bit in affirmation. I continued working on the flower necklace, having to carefully weave the flowers together so that I didn't tear them. That was one of the things that made creating a flower necklace a bit difficult. I soon finished it and smiled.

"There! It's done!" I said, holding the flower necklace out to the Mini-Con to see. "This is for you."

I placed the flower necklace over Payload's head so that it rested around his neck. He bleeped, causing me to giggle.

"You're welcome."

I went back to looking up at the sky, taking a deep breath before letting it out.

"The sky seems so _big _out here!" Carlos said.

"And it's so beautiful, too." I said.

"I know." Alexis agreed. "It's so peaceful and serene out here."

"Yeah. It's like we're all stuck in a big beautiful dream, isn't it?" Rad said. Sky Blast bleeped something and Rad laughed. "Yeah! I know! It's not a dream! We're a long way from home!"

I looked back at the other two Mini-Cons in the field and saw Astroscope chasing after a butterfly while Payload looked like he was dancing.

"It looks like they're having fun!" Carlos stated.

"When Rad told me about his plan to take the Mini-Cons away, at first I didn't want to do it." Alexis explained. "But now that I see they're having such a good time, I-I think we did the right thing."

"Hey! Are you guys as hungry as I am?" Fred asked from where he was sitting on the grass.

"Fred! The only thing you think about is food!" Carlos said.

"Yeah! How come you only thing you ever want to do is eat?" Alexis asked.

"Just chill out!" Fred complained. "I'm a growing boy and I need my nourishment!"

Rad chuckled a bit, but stopped when we heard the sound of the cans he hung up earlier.

"Who is that?" Rad asked.

We all looked at where the cans were hanging and gasped when we saw who it was!

"Oh no! It's Thrust!" Billy cried.

"How did he find out where we are?" Carlos asked when he jumped off the fence he was sitting on.

Thrust laughed evilly.

"I knew I was right! So, it was the Mini-Cons that created the Requiem Blaster on that bus, after all." Thrust said. "Come with _me_, Mini-Cons! We've got _work_ to do."

"Move it!" Rad yelled.

I didn't have to think twice before running away with the others to the house.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Fred cried since he was the last one to get inside.

Rad quickly shut the door and locked it (I really didn't see any point in locking it, though) before we ran into the room with the mirror Alexis put up. I was backed up to the wall, my heart hammering in my chest as I tried so hard not to shake in fear like I usually did when I was scared.

"Here he comes!" Alexis cried in fear.

"Nobody make a sound." Rad told us quietly as he held a piece of chopped wood in his hand.

Fred, Billy, Carlos, and the Mini-Cons were all gathered around another window in the room.

"I can't stop my knees from knocking…!" Fred complained.

Thrust suddenly stopped and I glanced at the mirror near Alexis and Rad. It suddenly lit up as I heard a sound similar to something wood being crushed. I looked up, my eyes widening in fear and my breath being caught in my throat when I realized that the sound was caused by Thrust lifting up the roof!

"Ah! There you are!" He said. The Decepticon reached inside in order to grab one of us, but Alexis suddenly blinded him with the mirror reflecting the sunlight. "Argh!"

"Run, guys! Get out of here now!" Alexis yelled.

We ran out of the house as fast as we could. From behind me I could hear Thrust smash the old wooden house.

"We're done for!" Billy cried.

"Hang on!" Rad yelled. I looked over my shoulder to see Thrust walking towards us, not at all in any hurry to catch us. It was then that I noticed what Rad, Carlos, and Alexis were doing as they stood behind a pile of logs. "Ready? Push!"

The three pushed the pile of logs in Thrust's direction and watched as the Decepticon tried not to stumble over them. One long rand into his leg and he grunted in pain.

"Bingo!" Rad, Carlos, and Alexis cheered before we all ran away.

"You little punks!" I heard Thrust growl before hearing his quickly footsteps, indicating that he was running after us.

As we ran I noticed a rope on the ground near a tree and my eyes widened when I spotted Fred and Billy hiding behind said tree. As soon as one of Thrust's feet stepped inside the rope circle it tightened around it as the two boys pulled on the rope, but they ended up being dragged along the ground by the Decepticon as he ran after us.

"Just let go!" Rad yelled.

"Let go?" They both yelled. The let go of the rope they were holding onto and just laid on their stomachs on the ground. "What a drag!"

Thrust turned around and spotted Fred and Billy "I'll squash you, little insects!" He said, lifting up his foot as he was about to make good on his threat.

Fred and Billy started screaming in fear, but Rad and Alexis managed to ram a wagon into the back of Thrust's foot, causing him to fall to the ground.

"I hate running on an empty stomach!" Fred complained before we ran inside the barn. He stood in front of Payload as he held onto a rope thingy of sorts. "Right! Going up!"

Payload pulled on it and they were flung up towards the rafters. I soon heard him bleep before hearing Thrust making his way closer to the barn we were in. I saw him looking through one of the windows from above before something metal was thrown at him.

"OW!" Thrust cried out in pain, holding onto his head.

"That _had _to hurt." I stated.

"What a shot!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Thanks! I taught him everything he know!" Fred boasted.

"And, uh, who taught you?" Billy asked.

"You, I guess…"

"I've been holding back…" Thrust started saying. "But from now on I'm not going to go easy on you…you troublemakers have pushed me _too _far!" I noticed that he raised his right arm into the air and my eyes widened when I realized what he was going to do! "Now it's time for you to PAY!"

Thrust slammed his arm into the barn and Payload was forced to jump off the rafters as the Decepticon started smashing the barn to pieces. A piece of glass falling from one of the broken windows during Thrust's assault cut my left arm and I bit my lip to prevent myself from screaming in pain! I could feel something trickling down my arm and placed my hand over it as I tried to ignore the pain.

"Run for it!" Rad yelled.

We ran but we didn't get far before we were cornered on the other side. I was unable to stop my body from shaking in fear! I was so scared! I felt like I was relieving my near death experience from my first mission with the Autobots. I felt a mixture of dread and horror as I realized that none of the Autobots knew where we were! They didn't even know that we're in danger! I felt my eyes well up with tears from how terrified I was.

"There's no way out! We're trapped!" Alexis cried fearfully.

"I want my _Mommy_!" Fred cried, followed by him crying.

"Oh man! It's hopeless! The Autobots don't know we're here!" Carlos yelled.

What was left of the wall on the other side of the barn collapsed and Thrust towered over us menacingly. He laughed maniacally, seeming amused at the predicament _we _were in.

"Hand over those Mini-Cons right now." He demanded, his voice low and threatening. He knew we were scared and laughed again. "Any _last _words?"

Suddenly I heard the sound of a horn echo through the air and Thrust turned in the direction it was coming from. My eyes widened and I gasped when I saw a familiar red and blue semi-truck ram into Thrust, knocking him to the ground before coming to a stop.

"Transform!" The semi-truck transformed into the Autobot leader we knew so well (at least I did to some extent).

"Optimus!" Rad cried.

"He found us!" Alexis said.

"We've been saved!" Billy and Fred cheered as they hugged each other.

"Is everyone alright?" Optimus asked, turning to gaze down at us with concerned golden optics.

"Yeah. Mm-hmm." Rad answered.

"I want those Mini-Cons!" Thrust demanded as he got up from the ground

"You can't have them, Thrust, because I know what you want to use them for!" Optimus said.

"I think I know how to _change_ your mind! Transform!" Thrust transformed into a plane and just stayed there. It was when I saw guns (or was it cannons?) glow purple did I realize why. "Launch!" The lasers hit Optimus, causing him to be thrown into a concrete building. "You're history, Optimus!" Suddenly the Autobot leader caused the hay around him to be blown into the air and forcing Thrust to transform. "Where did he go?"

"Right here!" Optimus answered. "Optimus Super Mode! Transform!" Optimus started to transform, his body changing into the upper half of a body (his head disappeared as well) while his trailer changed into legs that attached themselves to the upper half. Optimus' head reappeared with a totally different appearance and I was suddenly reminded of the time when Optimus and Jetfire combined into their Jet Convoy mode. "Let's go, Thrust!"

"Next time, Optimus!" Thrust yelled. "Next time!"

With that Thrust warped out of the area. I let out the breath I realized I'd been holding as I fell to my knees, feeling relieved. It was over. It was all over!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_(Later)_

The sun had started setting as I stood in front of Optimus with the others, my head hanging in guilt since the Autobot leader was aware of what we did. I felt small compared to him and it wasn't because he was a giant robot. I held my hand over my cut arm as I attempted to hide it from view.

"Hey, Optimus? We're…uh…sorry." Rad said, apologizing to him.

Suddenly I heard the sound of a horn honking before turning in the direction it came from to see Hot Shot, Red Alert, Smokescreen, and Blurr driving towards us before transforming in their respective order.

"Oh, great! We missed all the fun!" Hot Shot exclaimed, seeming somewhat disappointed. "Why did you guys run away on us?"

"Do you know how _worried _we were about you?" Smokescreen asked.

"We really didn't mean any harm." We just felt _sorry _for the Mini-Cons."

"You felt _sorry _for them?" Blurr asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"Well, sometimes it seems you only see the Mini-Cons as tools. I know you want to use them to end the war with the Decepticons, but some of them don't wanna be involved in the fighting at all." Rad explained. "Do you understand?"

"Rad. I promise no Mini-Con will ever have to fight if he doesn't want to." Optimus declared.

"Are you sure?" Blurr inquired. "They could be our only chance to get rid of the Decepticons."

"You're right." Optimus turned to Blurr. "Our goal is to rid the universe of the Decepticons. But if we use these Mini-Cons against their will, then we're no better than our enemies. Don't forget that the Decepticons are holding a lot of the Mini-Cons against their will"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Right." Jetfire agreed, nodded his head.

Jetfire had been watching the whole thing happen before him. His optics searched the screen and he smiled behind his face mask when they found what he was looking for.

'_You're safe, Skydancer._' He thought.

He suddenly noticed that Valerie was holding her right hand over her left arm not in the way of a human gesture, but more like she was pressing her hand on it. He zoomed in on the image before his optics widened at what he saw!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"So you're saying the only way we're gonna be able to beat the Decepticons is with teamwork?" Hot Shot concluded.

Smokescreen nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Teamwork!"

"Hm-hmm." Even Red Alert agreed.

"We can do it!" Blurr said.

"Thank you, Optimus!" Rad said.

"Yes." Optimus replied, nodding his head once.

Suddenly Hot Shot crouched down a bit and held a balled fisted out in front of Rad at eye level. Rad seemed confused.

"Put 'er dere, pal!" Hot Shot said cheerfully.

Rad smiled before pounding the yellow Autobot's fist in a friendly gesture as he laughed. I smiled as I watched all this happen and was glad that everything worked out in the end.

"Red Alert here, what is it?" Red Alert suddenly said.

I was confused and turned to the Autobot medic. What…who was he talking to?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"_**Red Alert here, what is it?**_" Red Alert answered through the comlink.

"Red Alert! I was watching what was happening on the monitor here and noticed something serious." Jetfire said on his end of the comlink conversation. "As in life threatening."

"_**What's the problem?**_"

"Have you noticed that Valerie is holding her left arm?"

"_**I have, but what does this-**_"

"She's injured, Red Alert. Take a look at it and you'll see what I mean!"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Red Alert looked like he was done with the conversation he was having with someone over a comlink connect before looking over in my direction. I slightly tightened my hold that my right hand had over my left arm as the medic made his way over to me and knelt down.

"Let me see your left arm." He demanded, leaving no room for argument.

I glanced down at the ground before removing my hand from my left arm, said hand having blood on it from covering the cut I had. I heard gasps around me and realized that everyone had been watching. I looked at my arm and flinched when I saw how horrible it looked.

"Why didn't you say something about this earlier, Valerie?" Alexis asked as she came over to me.

"I…I didn't want any of you to worry. We were running for our lives, remember?"

"That still doesn't excuse the fact that you're hurt." Red Alert told me. "I'm having you ride with me back to the base. That way I can keep an eye on your condition until I can use proper equipment. For now keep pressure on it."

"Okay…"

So we ended up heading back to the base. Rad, Carlos, and Alexis rode with Hot Shot while Billy and Fred rode with Optimus, and I rode with Red Alert. It was starting to get dark so I closed my eyes and decided to take a nap. I was tired after everything that's happened today.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I woke up to find myself staring up at a metal ceiling before sitting up. It was then that I realized I was actually in the med bay. This was the third time I've been in here already! I looked down at my left arm and was surprised to find that it was wrapped up with bandages and the area where I knew the cut was felt sore, yet somewhat itchy. I moved my right hand over the area, intending to scratch it a bit to relieve the itch.

"Don't scratch it!"

I jumped slightly in surprise and my head whipped in the direction the voice came from to find Red Alert looking at me with his arms crossed.

"I'm sorry, but it itches." I said, wanting so badly to scratch it."

"That would be because of the butyl cyanoacrylate I used for the cut on your left arm." Red Alert told me.

"Butyl cyano-what?" I was confused.

He sighed, seeming to realize that I didn't know what he was talking about.

"It's what you humans call 'liquid stitches' most of the time and is mainly used for medical purposes. The generic name for butyl cyanoacrylate is cyanoacrylate."

"Oh." I started to understand a bit better about it now that Autobot before me explained it.

"Let me check you over and then I'll allow you to leave the med bay."

A laser of sort came out of Red Alert's optics and seemed to scan my body (the sensation I got from it felt weird, too) before stopping.

"Hey, Red Alert? I have a question." I said.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You're all a far way from home, right? Do any of you guys have someone waiting for you to return to Cybertron, like family?"

"A few of us do. It may not look like it, but Scavenger has a sparkmate waiting for him to return, as well as I do."

"What's a sparkmate?"

"A sparkmate is what humans would consider a 'spouse.' In a way the process itself is similar to marriage, but with one difference." Red Alert explained. "Whereas a couple from your race will annul their vows of marriage with a divorce, transformers can't go through a divorce. Once two transformers become sparkmates the process can never be reversed at all and will remain for as long as they live."

"That's incredible. That's a long time."

"It may be a long time for your race, but not to ours. I've already finished checking you over so you're free to go." Red Alert held out his hand for me to climb onto and lowered me to the floor. "But remember, no practicing or any other activities that could possibly cause further damage to your arm."

"Okay. Thank you." I said.

"You're welcome."

I left the med bay and walked down the hallway, not caring where I was even going. Now that I thought about it this was the third time I've been hurt, first my head from when I fainted (when I first encountered the Autobots and Decepticons when I was heading home from practice), the last time having been when I scraped my hands from tripping on my first mission (just thinking about it made me feel sad since it reminded me of what happened to Optimus), and now my arm which I was very tempted to itch right now.

'_It's official. I'm either a klutz or accident prone. Wait, I've always been a klutz._' I thought. '_Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a klutz._'

I suddenly ran into something solid causing me to fall and shut my eyes as I expected to hit the ground, but something caught me in time before that could even happen.

"You _really _shouldn't be in walking around in deep thought. You tend to lose track of where you're going and find yourself running into things like _you _did just now."

I opened my eyes and was surprised to see Jetfire, kneeling down in front of me with his hand wrapped around me. I felt my face heat up slight as I realized he was the one who caught me and looked away to hide it.

"Eye contact, Skydancer." He reminded me.

"I'm sorry!" I said, forcing myself to look at him.

"You really need to stop apologizing so much."

I opened my mouth, ready to say something.

"And before you say 'I'm sorry' again, don't."

I stopped myself from saying sorry instantly.

"How did you know I was going to say that?"

"You've gotten pretty predictable recently."

"Oh." I said. "Um, Jetfire?"

"Yes?"

"Could you let go of me?"

Jetfire seemed to realize that he still had his hand wrapped around me from when he caught me and his golden optics widened in surprise before he released me (after he had set me upright, of course).

"Sorry 'bout that." He said, rubbing the back of his head almost sheepishly.

"Look whose apologizing now." I muttered.

"I heard that!" Jetfire had stopped rubbing the back of his head and brought it close to me (or as close as he could with him kneeling in front of me). "And I've also figured out the riddle you gave me, too!"

"Y-you did?" I stuttered slightly, not just because he finally figured out the riddle, but because of how close he was to me. "Then…what's the answer?"

"The answer is that there is no answer. The phrase, or _riddle_, is just a philosophical question that involves the opinion of a person's observation of reality. Now where's the surprise you promised me?

"S-surprise?" Oh no! I didn't think he'd figure the riddle out so soon! And I didn't even have a surprise planned for when he figured out the riddle.

"Yes! You promised, remember?" He told me.

"I…uh…" I looked around for an escape and soon found one. "I-I gotta go!"

I bolted in the direction behind Jetfire, which the entrance was in the same direction as well.

"Hey!" I heard Jetfire's loud footsteps behind me as he chased after me. "Get back here!"

I forced myself to run faster in order to get away from him. I could probably find somewhere to hide outside, like behind a boulder or something like that. I was relieved when I spotted the entrance to far away and stopped outside when I saw the night sky with the moon and all the stars out. I was so distracted with looking at the sky that I was taken by surprise when a hand wrapped around my body and lifted me up close to Jetfire's face as he gazed down at me.

"Gotcha now, Skydancer! Now where's my surprise?"

"Um…" I had to think. Jetfire was expecting the surprise I promised him, but I didn't even have one yet. Think, Valerie! Think of something! I felt my face heat up slightly with the idea I thought of, feeling unsure if I should even do it or not.

"I'm waiting." Jetfire reminded me.

"Can…can you bring your face a bit closer, please?" I asked, already feeling nervous.

Jetfire brought his face a bit closer to the point I could just place my hand on it without stretching my arm out completely since it was only 6 inches away from me.

"Okay, now what?"

My face heated up a little bit more, but I managed to move my face closer to his before I placed a quick kiss where I'd assume his cheek would me. I pulled away in time to see that Jetfire looked surprised by what I did.

"T-that was it?" He asked and I was surprised that he stuttered slightly.

I nodded my head in reply.

"Thanks. Wasn't exactly what I expected, but I can't complain."

I felt my face heat up to what felt like 100 degrees to me from what he said. But boy would I be in for a surprise when I got home.

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ATE: That's it for chap 6. Thank you for taking the time to read this chap. Also I'm opened to any suggestions or ideas that anyone would want to see in appear in this story and I will give credit to anyone's ideas I use. Just write them in your reviews, that's all.

Please remember to review! ;D


	7. Feelings And Getting To Know You

ATE: After so long and countless days of toiling over this, I've finally completed chap 7! And it's 6,772 words long story-wise. Anyways, I'd like to thank **Diamond White** and **Mistress Megatron** for their reviews for the previous chap, and I'd like to thank **Diamond White **again for helping me with this chap by giving me ideas of what I could write in this chap *Big hugs for **Diamond White***. I don't think I could've finished it without your help. I hope everyone likes how this chap came out!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, the song 'Mustang Sally' (I forgot who this was by), or the song 'Dare' (by Stan Bush, who makes some really good music). I only own my OC Valerie.

* * *

Chapter 7: Feelings And Getting To Know You

I sat at my desk in class staring down at the piece of paper in front of me, the tip of my pencil hovering over it as I contemplated what I was going to write. Because of what happened yesterday when my friends and I were at that old farm Red Alert had built each of us a device (I think he called it a portable comlink) for us to use to call the Autobots if we were ever in a situation like that again. It was when I got home last night that my parents grounded me since I came back past my curfew, but at least they only grounded me for a day seeing as this was the first time this has happened (and accidentally, too). Anyways, the reason why I had a paper in front of me was because I was trying to write a letter to Jetfire explaining why I wasn't going to be at the base today (I was going to have Alexis give it to him). I tapped the eraser of my pencil to my lips as I thought of what to write down before placing the tip to the paper.

_Dear Jetfire,_

_I'm guessing by the time you get this letter that you've noticed I didn't come. The reason why I wrote this letter to you was because my parents grounded me when I accidentally came home past my curfew, but the good news is that it's only for today since this was the first time I've done so. Oh, you probably don't know what it means to be 'grounded'. When a parent grounds their child (it's a type of punishment), the child has to stay at home and isn't allow to go out unless it's for important activities like school (and sometimes they take away some privileges, too). Just wanted to let you know where I was or what happened to me in case you started worrying._

_Love,  
__Valerie_

I blushed when I realized that I wrote '_Love_' and quickly erased it before replacing it with '_Your confidence booster buddy_'. What compelled me to write that down? I wasn't really thinking when I wrote it down. Right?

'_This is because of me kissing him, isn't it?_' I thought, my face heating up when I thought back on what happened. I shook my head slightly. '_It's probably just a side effect or something. It'll go away._'

I jumped when the bell rang (indicating that school was over) and quickly folded the letter I just finished writing twice before looking for Alexis. I managed to spot her gathering her things and went over to her.

"Hey, Alexis." I greeted her.

"Hey, Valerie." She greeted back. "How's your arm?"

"It's okay. Still itches from the butyl cyano-liquid stitches."

"You're coming to the base, right?"

"I can't." I told her, shaking my head. "My parents grounded me for being out past my curfew."

"Speaking about your parents, how did you explain what happened to your arm to them?"

"I told them that I was over at your house and some kids were playing baseball in the street when their baseball broke a nearby window, a broken piece of glass cut my arm, and you had to take me to the hospital to get it stitched up. I also mentioned that that was the reason I wasn't home on time so they only grounded me for today."

"That's good. The others at the base would start to miss you if you were grounded longer than that. Especially a certain someone."

"H-hey! It's not like that!" I blushed when she mentioned Jetfire. "Anyways, I wanted you to give this letter to _him_, since he'll be wondering why I couldn't come today." I handed Alexis the letter.

"You have nothing to worry about. I'll make sure he gets it. Will you be okay getting home?"

"I'll be fine, Alexis. Don't worry about me."

"If you say so." She giggled. "See you tomorrow!"

"You too!"

We both went our own way and I was soon walking out of the school heading for a public bus to take me home. As soon as I saw it I witnessed the last few people getting on and I started rushing over to it, hoping that I was able to get on. But I was too late seeing that it closed its doors and drove off. I felt tired and somewhat upset that I missed the bus and went over to sit down on a nearby bench, hanging my head. My eyes welled up with tears and threatened to fall, but I forced myself not to cry. I can't cry every single time I got upset over something. But I didn't even know when the next bus would come. What was I going to do? My ears picked up the sound of a motorcycle stopping nearby among the sounds of cars driving by, but I didn't pay it much attention.

"Hey!"

I lifted my head up and looked in the direction the voice came from to find a person (I assumed was male), wearing a black full body leather suit with a black helmet hiding his face, sitting atop a huge purple and yellow motorcycle that was pulled near the curb. His head was turned towards me and I realized that he was talking to me.

"Huh?" I said, clearly confused.

"You look like you could use a ride. I can get you to where you need to be." He told me.

"You'd give me a ride?" I felt hesitant.

"Yes."

I regarded this guy that was offering me a ride. I didn't even know him, so how do I know he wasn't some child kidnapper or something?

"What's the catch?" I asked after awhile.

The man chuckled quietly.

"There is no catch."

"Then what do you hope to gain from doing this?"

"Is it really such a big deal to help someone out when they need it?" He pulled out another helmet, which happened to be a light blue. "Here!" He threw the helmet at me and I barely caught it. "Put that helmet over your head and get on behind me."

The way he said it left no room for argument. I placed the helmet over my head and reluctantly got on the motorcycle behind him. I was even reluctant to place my arms around him! He must've noticed this since both of his gloved hands grabbed my arms and placed them around him before placing his hand back on the handles of the motorcycle. I wasn't prepared when the motorcycle started moving and my arms tightened around the man slightly in surprise and fear as I shut my eyes tightly. I've never been on a motorcycle before and didn't know what to expect.

"I'm going to need directions to where you want me to take you." He told me.

"Just keep going down this way until you get to the third neighborhood. It'll be the only house a bit down the road from the last subdivision." I said.

"Got it. By the way, I never did catch your name."

"I'm…Valerie. What about you?"

"My name is Steve Wilder."

I didn't know how long Steve was driving, but eventually he stopped.

"We're here." Steve said.

I opened my eyes and sure enough Steve stopped in the driveway of my house. I unwrapped my arms from around him, got off the motorcycle, and took the helmet off my head before handing it back to Steve.

"Thank you, Steve." I said.

He chuckled.

"Not a problem."

With that Steve pulled out of the driveway and drove off down the road. I turned back to my house and sighed, seeing that my parents weren't home. We lived away from the other houses with the woods being located a ways away from the back yard. The only good thing about living this far out was that we got the peace and quite that other people living in a regular neighbor occasionally got, while the downside was that took awhile for me to get to the nearest bus stop. I went inside and headed up to my room. Maybe I could take a nap.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire sat in the rec room sipping on an energon cube as he relaxed. It had been a long time since he felt comfortable enough to do so, what with a war going on and all. With the war being waged between the Autobots and Decepticons they only had enough time to down an energon cube quickly before continuing to fight and hardly any time to relax.

'_This is what happens when you're at war._' He thought. '_If we weren't, I'd be drinking high grade right now._'

He suddenly heard the doors hiss open and lifted his optics to see Smokescreen enter, who grinned when he spotted the shuttle mech.

"Hey, I was just looking for you, Jetfire." Smokescreen said.

"And _why_, may I ask, were you looking for me?" Jetfire asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that the kids are here and I was just about to go greet them. That also means that _she's_ here as well."

"You know, Smokey, have I ever told you that you sometimes read too much into things, especially by what you're claiming?"

"You did now. But I have a feeling as to what going on, so see ya!" Smokescreen ran out of the rec room and down the hallway.

Jetfire quickly downed the rest of his energon cube before going after Smokescreen. Too bad he wouldn't be able to get back at Smokescreen anytime soon since he spotted the kids, but felt confused when he didn't see who he was looking for.

"Where's Valerie?" He asked.

"She couldn't come, Jetfire." Alexis told him. Alexis pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it towards him. "But she wanted me to give you this letter."

"Huh? A letter?" He carefully took the folded paper (which to him was very small) and unfolded it. "Hmm… Looks like I need my reading glasses for this." Jetfire pulled out a pair of huge reading glasses and placed them over his optics.

"What? You actually need reading glasses in order to see?" Carlos asked.

"Nah! I was just messing with you kids." Jetfire replied, taking off the glasses. "I actually made these just for an occasion like this and get a good laugh out of everyone's reactions."

Jetfire glance at the letter that he brought close to his face in order to see (and zoom his optics in a bit to read) and started reading it.

_Dear Jetfire,_

_I'm guessing by the time you get this letter that you've noticed I didn't come. The reason why I wrote this letter to you was because my parents grounded me when I accidentally came home past my curfew, but the good news is that it's only for today since this was the first time I've done so. Oh, you probably don't know what it means to be 'grounded'. When a parent grounds their child (it's a type of punishment), the child has to stay at home and isn't allow to go out unless it's for important activities like school (and sometimes they take away some privileges, too). Just wanted to let you know where I was or what happened to me in case you started worrying._

_Your confidence booster buddy,  
__Valerie_

"Valerie's been 'grounded'?" Jetfire exclaimed after having read the letter over.

"Yeah. I'm guessing you don't know what it means to be grounded?" Alexis said.

"I didn't until I read this letter. Valerie actually explained what being ground was here. Anyways, I gotta go somewhere, so see ya!"

"Jetfire! Where are you going?"

Jetfire had heard Hot Shot yell after him, but he ignored the yellow Autobot as he ran towards the entrance of the base. As soon as he was outside the shuttle mech transformed and flew off somewhere remote so he could think by himself and wouldn't have to worry about any humans seeing him transform. Jetfire soon found the perfect place and changed back before sitting down with his legs hanging over the edge of the cliff. He couldn't believe that Valerie hadn't been able to come to the base, all because she was grounded for today. Jetfire sighed before lifting the letter Valerie wrote to him in front of his face.

And it was then that he saw something that caught his optic when he read the last bit of the letter. It was faint, but he could see something that look like it was written down but was erased due to a mistake where '_your confidence booster buddy_' was place. He assumed that Valerie must've been pressing her pencil on the paper as she wrote since the eraser she used hadn't been able to get ride of the word completely. Jetfire felt his spark, as the humans would say, skip a beat (or pulse) when he saw that the word that was previously there was '_love_'.

Was it possible that… No, he shouldn't get ahead of himself just yet. Even if it were true. Jetfire liked Valerie, yes, ever since he first met her. He liked how her eyes always reminded him of the sky she loved gazing at, how she smiled whenever she was happy, and her laugh when she found something funny. She was kind and he knew she had a good heart. But then she had her downsides as well. She was shy, always apologized and beat herself up about something when it wasn't even her fault in begin with. But the one that got to him the most was her confidence and self-esteem. She didn't think of herself so highly (even saying that she didn't think she was graceful when he thought so) and because of that he wanted to help her. He didn't like seeing her sad either when he first saw her crying. He already saw her as more than a confidence booster buddy ever since she kissed him yesterday, but he couldn't get his hope up.

'_If only she knew…_' He thought.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_I found myself sitting on one of the couches in the rec room of the Autobot's base, where my friends and the other Autobots were around. Everyone was looking in the same direction as music started playing and I recognized it as Mustang Sally. I looked in the direction that everyone was looking in and my eyes widened when I saw Jetfire holding a huge microphone hooked up to a huge stereo._

_**Mustang Sally, better slow your mustang down.**_

_Oh my god! Jetfire was actually singing Mustang Sally. _

_**Mustang Sally, now baby, I guess you better slow your mustang down.  
You've been running all over the town.  
Oh, I guess you gotta put your flat feet on the ground**_

**_All you want to do is ride around Sally,  
_**_**(Ride, Sally, ride.)  
All you want to do is ride around Sally,  
**__**(Ride, Sally, ride.)  
All you want to do is ride around Sally,  
**__**(Ride, Sally, ride.)  
All you want to do is ride around Sally,  
**__**(Ride, Sally, ride)  
One of these early mornings,  
You gonna be wiping your weeping eyes.**_

_**I bought you a brand new mustang...  
**__**It was a 1965.  
Now you come around signifying a woman,  
Girl you won't, you won't let me ride  
Mustang Sally, now baby, guess you better slow your mustang down.  
You been running all over the town now.  
I guess you gotta put your flat feet on the ground. **_

_My eyes widened when Jetfire looked at me and my face heated up with he started coming over to me. My face got even more warmer when he suddenly picked me up and holding me in his free hand as he continued gazing at me. I looked away, feeling embarrassed._

_**All you want to do is ride around Sally,  
**__**(Ride, Sally, ride.)  
All you want to do is ride around Sally,  
**__**(Ride, Sally, ride.)  
All you want to do is ride around Sally,  
**__**(Ride, Sally, ride.)  
All you want to do is ride around Sally,  
**__**(Ride, Sally, ride.)  
One of these early mornings,  
You gonna be wiping your weeping eyes.**_

_**Those weeping eyes, oh yeah, babe (Sally)  
Those weeping eyes (Sally), yeah hey, yeah  
Those weeping eyes (Sally), yeah yeah (Sally)  
Oh, those weeping eyes (Sally)  
Those weeping eyes (Sally), those weeping eyes (Sally)  
Yeah, yeah, yeah, hey yeah**_

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

My eyes shot opening and I bolted up in an upright position, my face feeling warm as I recalled the dream I just had. What the hell caused me to have a dream like that? I mean Jetfire could actually sing real well, but it was the fact that he _was _singing and had picked me up so suddenly.

'_It must've been the lunch I ate at school today._' I thought. '_Or maybe I actually miss him already._'

I shook my head quickly, trying to dismiss that thought. I saw him yesterday, so how could I miss him? Could he possibly feel the same right now?

Suddenly I heard something beeping and I started searching for where it was coming from, only to find that it was the portable comlink Red Alert gave me and pressed the button on it before placing it to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked.

"_**Hey, Skydancer! How've you been?**_" My eyes widened when I heard the familiar voice.

"J-Jetfire? Is that you?" I felt my face heat up slightly.

"_**No, this is Blurr. Who else calls you Skydancer besides me?**_" He chuckled on the other line. "_**Anyways, I got the letter you had Alexis give me. What's it like being grounded?**_"

"Miserable. I'm basically here by myself at home." I told him. "Why did you call me?"

"_**Well, I thought you could possibly want someone to talk to, but since you said that you were home by yourself, I'm actually thinking of coming over to keep you company.**_"

"Y-You want to come over?" My face heated up again.

"_**You did say you were miserable. And I could just get there by tracking the signal on the device Red Alert gave you. Anything I should know about ahead of time before I come over?**_" He asked

This took me by surprise. Jetfire was really serious about this. I sighed.

"Just know that you won't have to worry about anyone seeing you transform." I replied. "Behind my house is the woods where you could hide in your true form so land there."

"_**Okay! See you soon!**_"

With that the line went dead, indicating that the call had ended. I picked up my iPod before going over and sitting in front of my window to gaze at the sky. I placed the ear buds in my ears and I soon heard music playing.

**_Sometimes when your hopes have all been shattered,_**  
**_There's nowhere to turn._**  
**_You wonder how you keep going (going)._**  
**_Think of all the things that really matter,_**  
**_And the chances you've earned._**  
**_The fire in your heart is growing (growing)._**  
**_You can fly if you try leaving the past behind._**  
**_Heaven only knows what you might find._**

**_Dare_**  
**_Dare to believe you can survive._**  
**_You hold the future in your hand._**  
**_Dare_**  
**_Dare to keep all your dreams alive._**  
**_It's time to take a stand._**  
**_You can win if you dare._**

_********__Everybody's trying to break your spirit,  
Keeping you down.  
Seems like it's been forever (ever). Oh!  
There's another voice if you'll just hear it,  
Saying it's the last time  
Looks like it's now or never.  
Out of the darkness you stumble into the light.  
Fighting for the things you know are right._

**_Dare._**  
**_Dare to believe you can survive._**  
**_The power is there at your command._**  
**_Dare._**  
**_Dare to keep all your dreams alive._**  
**_It's time to take a stand._**  
**_You can win if you dare (dare) (dare)._**

**_Dare._**  
**_Dare to believe you can survive._**  
**_You hold the future in your hand._**  
**_Dare._**  
**_Dare to keep all your dreams alive._**  
**_The power is there at your command._**  
**_Oh! Dare._**  
**_Dare to keep all your love alive._**  
**_Dare to be all that you can be._**  
**_Dare._**  
**_There is a place where dreams survive._**  
**_It's calling you on to victory_**  
**_Dare._**  
**_Dare._**  
**_Ooooo Ohhh._**

I suddenly spotted something white flying in the sky and I realized that it was Jetfire. I quickly got up before leaving my room, running down the stairs (while being careful not to trip since that had been one of my accidents resulted in me breaking my ankle) before rushing out the backdoor towards the woods just in time to witness Jetfire coming down for a landing. As soon as he landed he transformed and I suddenly found myself being picked up and held close to his chest, causing my face to heat up.

"I missed you, Skydancer." Jetfire said quietly, taking me by surprise.

My face got warmer than it already was as my stomach started doing flips as well. I wasn't expecting Jetfire to hug me. I hadn't expected him to do this. I finally made up my mind and spread my arms on him in an attempt to hug him back (although it felt kind of awkward).

"You missed me?" I asked.

"Sure did. I thought you'd be coming to the base today, but I didn't expect you to be grounded. And with everything that happened with you kids yesterday, I can honestly say I was worried about you."

"I…I didn't think you cared about me." My stomach started doing flips again.

"Of course I care about you, Skydancer." Jetfire moved one of his hands before a finger was placed under my chin and tilted my head up so that I was looking at his face. "More than you know…"

My face heated up again, but this time I had no way of hiding it from the Vice Commander. I was suddenly reminded of when I kissed him yesterday and my heart beat sounded loud in my ears. Why did I keep feeling like this whenever I'm around him?

"Anyways, is there anything you'd like to do?" Jetfire asked.

"Oh. Um…" I thought for a bit of what we could do. What could one do with a giant robot? "How about we go on a walk through the woods. There's a lake where we could swim if we wanted."

Jetfire laughed.

"Sorry, kiddo, but this mech here was made for _flying_, not _swimming_! But don't let me spoil the fun. You could do some swimming yourself and I can just sit out and watch."

"Okay. Just let me go inside to change real quickly." Then I realized something. "Could you put me down?"

"Oh yeah! Sure thing!"

Jetfire knelt down a bit before lowering his hand to the ground so I could get off. I ran back inside and up to my room, where I quickly changed into my swimsuit (and putting my clothes on to wear over it). Once I was done I grabbed a towel before coming back out again to find him waiting patiently for me and went over to him.

"Okay, I'm ready." I told him.

"Good!" He said excitedly. "Uh…which direction was it again?"

I giggled at his confusion.

"It this way."

I pointed straight ahead. But then I yelped in surprise when he suddenly picked me up.

"Maybe I should carry you. That way I won't have to worry about losing you out here."

"Fine…" My face heated up slightly.

Jetfire started walking through the woods, the ground giving a slight tremor whenever his footsteps landed each time. It was different seeing the woods this way since I was so high up.

"So how old are you exactly?" He suddenly asked.

"I'm 14." I said. Now that was awkward. "How about you?"

"Me? I happen to be 270,000 years old." He said it like it was a good thing.

"Whoa! You're _old_!"

"Hey! I'm not _that_ old! By human standards I'd been about 27 for your information, missy!" Jetfire retorted. "And by Cybertronian standards you'd be nothing more than a sparkling, so there!"

'_So much for maturity…_' I thought.

"How about when you joined the Autobots in the war? Did you _have _to enlist or did you have a choice in the matter?"

"We really don't have a choice when it comes to enlisting. It's only the femme's that really get to choose if they want to or not. But the standard age was and still is 180,000 years old, but you can still enter even if you're a few thousand years younger."

So that meant that they'd be 18 by human standards. I guess I'm seeing a pattern as to how old a Cybertronian is by human standards. It was…actually not that hard.

"Do you have anyone waiting for you to return back on Cybertron? Like family or a…sparkmate?"

Jetfire started laughing.

"A _sparkmate_? Oh no, kiddo! No sparkmate for me! I'm single!" Jetfire looked down at me. "What? Would you've been jealous if I did?"

"N-no!" My face headed up. "I was only curious."

"Then how about you? Any significant _other _in your life?"

"Jetfire!" I exclaimed.

"What? _I_ was only curious!" I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"I-I'm not dating anyone!" I looked down. "How about your family?"

At this Jetfire seemed to change from being his confident usual self to something…something nostalgic. I felt as if I hit a sore subject for him to discuss.

"That's…" He started, seeming to find the right words to say. "That's a story for another time…"

"I'm sorry, Jetfire. I didn't mean to."

"Hey, hey. It's fine. You didn't know better, that's all." He reassured me. He looked up. "Oh. Looks like we're here, Skydancer."

I looked up and sure enough we were at the lake. Jetfire lowered me to the ground before he sat down with his back leaning against a tree. I placed the towel I had next to a tree before I started taking my shoes off, followed by my clothes until I was in nothing but my swimsuit. I soon went into the water, but it was only when I got in that I realized how cold it felt. I soon heard Jetfire laugh from where he was and turned to look at him.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You're reaction when you got in the water! I'm beginning to wonder if you _should _be swimming in there when it's cold."

"You knew it would be cold?"

"Sure did! But I wanted to see if you'd think the same thing."

I quickly got out of the water before making my way back to where I left me towel. I wrapped it around me in hopes that it'd provide me with some warmth, but I was still shivering profusely as my teeth chattered.

"Are you cold?" Jetfire asked, his voice full with concern.

I nodded my head, not trusting my voice at the moment.

I felt Jetfire's hand wrap around my body, towel and all, before he shifted around to laying down on his back. I was brought close to his chest where the Autobot symbol and he held me there while his hand covered me like a blanket, instantly feeling warm from his chest and hands. I shivered a bit from the warmth as I tried to get used to it, but in the end I found myself comfortable.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire just laid on his back as he held Valerie close to where his spark was covered by his chest plate in order to keep her warm. He felt her shiver a bit before relaxing, to which he smiled behind his face mask. A few minutes ago he had watched her strip out of her clothes until she was in nothing but her swimsuit and he knew that if he were human he would've must likely blushed. And here he was now, holding her small form close to him, with nothing but the towel wrapped tightly around her body coming between him and feeling her skin. He could feel the shape of her body from beneath his hand, but he honestly wanted to…

'_Whoa! Slow down, Jetfire!_' He thought to himself. '_That's going a little _too_ far! And it's a little early to be having those thoughts!_'

Jetfire knew that he'd already gotten attached to Valerie despite the little time they've may have spent together. His spark pulsed in his chest, as if knowing what it was he felt for the girl he held.

He was suddenly reminded of when he was nothing more than a sparkling growing up under the care of his mother. He had once asked how she'd met his father before they became sparkmates. He had then asked how did she even know that he'd be the right mech for her, to which she gave him a smile before explaining to him.

"_**Even before we're created Primus chooses who will become our sparkmates.**_" She had told him. "_**It's all a matter of finding the one He chose to be your sparkmate.**_"

"**_But how do you know if you found the right one?_**" He had asked.

"**_You just do. You'll know when the time comes, my little Jetfire._**"

Jetfire glance at Valerie, whose eyes were softly shut. He felt happy whenever he was around her, even content. He already knew. His spark already knew.

'_If only I could tell her…_'

"Jetfire?"

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Valerie spoke and glanced down at her to find that she was looking at him with her blue eyes.

"What is it, Skydancer?" He asked.

"Why is it always warm on this spot of your chest?" She asked. "Over your Autobot symbol, I mean."

"That's because my spark it located beneath that area, where my spark chamber is." He smiled.

"What's a spark?"

"A spark is what keeps us alive. If something were to happen to the spark itself we'd die."

"But what would happen if the spark was taken out of your body?"

"Well, we'd still be alive. Our sparks are who we are, kind of similar to what you humans would consider a soul of sorts."

"A soul…" He heard her say quietly.

"Are you ready to head back?" He asked.

"Yes."

Jetfire sat up before placing Valerie on the ground so she could get dressed. Once she was ready he picked her up before making his way back to her house.

"Thank you for keeping me warm, Jetfire." Valerie said.

Jetfire spark swelled up as he smiled behind his face mask. He turned to look at her to see that she was blushing. He'd noticed that she did that a lot whenever she was around him and he found it cute.

"No problem, Skydancer." He replied.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

After awhile we arrived back at my house. Jetfire sat down before lowering me back to the ground so I could get off. I ran off to the house, getting out of my swimsuit (and changing in the process), hanging up the towel, and grabbed a puzzle and a dry erase board before running back to my guest. By the way Jetfire was looking at the puzzle box I held in one of my hands I was guessing he was confused.

"What's that?" He asked, lowering his head a much as he could to see the puzzle box.

"It's a puzzle." I explained. "See the picture on the box?"

"Yeah?"

"Inside this box are tiny pieces that you have to put together to make the picture. Here, I'll show you."

I took the lid off the box to show him the tiny puzzle pieces inside, getting a wide eyed expression from Jetfire.

"Primus, those are some tiny pieces!" He exclaimed.

I giggled, finding his reaction humorous.

"You can help me get some of it done." I told him.

"How am I supposed to help you when the pieces are so _tiny_?"

"Oh…" I realized what he was getting at. Think, Valerie, think! "Maybe you can help me by telling me where some of the pieces should go."

"Well, it's better than nothing."

It was a good I brought the dry erase board since it'd make it easier to do the puzzle. I placed it on the ground and sat the puzzle box to the side before taking out some pieces, starting with sorting out the edge pieces so it wouldn't be so difficult. Jetfire helped me out by telling me where some of the pieces should go, and surprisingly he was right. Although that could be because he was a super advance robot. We talked as we worked on the puzzle and it was then I noticed something. Lately I've felt comfortable around Jetfire. Maybe it's because I've been around him so much that I've gotten used to his company, but for some reason something told me that wasn't exactly why.

'_Why do I feel this way?_' I thought, feeling confused.

I suddenly felt like someone was staring at me and I looked up to see that Jetfire was gazing at me with an…expression I couldn't really describe. There was something there, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Is something wrong, Jetfire?" I asked.

I watched as he seemed to realize what he was doing and his golden optics widened in surprise.

"N-no! T-there's nothing wrong!" He stuttered. "I was…I was just thinking! Yeah! Thinking!"

"About what?"

"I was thinking…about how much I enjoy spending time with you."

"I…I enjoy spending time with you as well." My face heated up. "For some reason I've started feeling comfortable around you, but I'm don't understand why? Do you have any idea?"

I thought I saw something show in Jetfire's optics, but as quickly as it came it was gone, making me question if I was just seeing things.

"I-" He stopped himself, seeming to think. "Nope! Can't say I do!"

"Oh…" I had a feeling he was going to say something else, but what? What was he originally going to say?

"By the way, how's your arm?" Jetfire asked, seeming to change the subject.

"It's fine." I said, lightly touching the bandage covering my left arm. "But because of it I can't really practice my ballet until it gets better."

"Would it be okay if I were to watch you practice sometime when you're at the base?"

I lowered my head as my face got even warmer.

"I-I guess…"

Time seemed to fly by so fast that the sun was starting to set. I knew that my parents would be home soon and I relayed this to Jetfire.

"Thanks for keeping me company." I told him.

"Hey, it wasn't a problem at all!" He said, already in his shuttle form. "See you tomorrow, Skydancer!"

With that Jetfire flew off. I watched as his form got smaller and smaller until I could no longer see him. I smiled as I brought a hand up and placed it over my heart.

"See you tomorrow, Jetfire…" I said quietly before heading inside with the packaged puzzle and dry erase board.

I felt happy all of a sudden knowing that I'd see Jetfire again tomorrow. The feeling itself was like being excited about your birthday that would be tomorrow. It was strange, but in a good way. I went to sleep that night thinking about him and the sky.

* * *

ATE: That's it for chap 7. The whole idea of Jetfire singing 'Mustang Sally' was from a video I saw on youtube of Scott McNeil (who voiced Jetfire in the english dub of Transformers Armada) singing 'Mustang Sally' and I was like "Whoa!" Not to mention that I had a dream that Jetfire did sing 'Mustang Sally'. I had some developement (in my opinion) between Jetfire and Valerie, and for those who've read the concept chap of a future in this story will catch the small hints of what's to come later on in the story. Like I've said in every anyone can submit suggestions or ideas that they might want to see in appear in this story. I'll give credit to anyone's ideas I use. Just write them in your review.

Also, if you want to see the video of Scott McNeil singing 'Mustang Sally' copy and paste the link below in the search bar (without the spaces, of course):

**_http : / www . youtube . com /watch?v= xZWQxBqRQGE_**

Please remember to review! ;D


	8. Painful Past and Connection

ATE: My fourth of July was awesome and I saw Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon last week on Wednesday! The movie itself was awesome and I'd highly recommend it. Again, it's taken me almost a month just to update. This chap, despite not having the events of an episode, took a long time to type out and just to get any work done on it. But I'm glad I finally managed to finishe it. I'd like to thank **Diamond White **for giving me the ideas that I used in this chap since she's been a great help. As for those who've reviewed the story so far, thanks go out to **Diamond White**, **Mistress Megatron**, **Crystalmaiden62**, **Bumblebeecamaro38**, **the kid**, and **GoblinQueen18 **for reviewing. Lucky for you guys, this chap was 20 microsoft word document pages long in 12 font, you you got yourselves a long chap to make up for the time I hadn't updated. I hope you all enjoy it!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, or the Madeline books. I only own my OC Valerie (AKA Skydancer) and a new OC that you'll all spot instantly (since I'm not going to give away the name of the new OC).

* * *

Chapter 8: Painful Past and Connection

I was excited when I woke up that morning knowing that I was no longer grounded (meaning I could go to the base). Even at school I constantly kept glancing at the clock any chance I got to see if it was any closer to school being over for the day.

'_Please hurry up…_' I thought after glancing at the clock for what seemed to be the hundredth time today. '_I want to see my friends. Jetfire…_"

My face heated up when I suddenly thought of Jetfire. When he had been over yesterday I had started noticing a few things. He admitted that he worried about my wellbeing and that he actually cared about me. There were the few instances where he took the time to get to know me and I've even caught him staring at me a few times. He had been there when I've cried so far and even comforted me. He'd even brought me close to his spark whenever he held me. He even stuttered a few times. I…I was even comfortable being around him and I hadn't even known him that long! Was it possible that he felt something for me?

'_Don't be ridiculous! He couldn't possibly like someone like me. Me! A klutz!_'

But for some reason a part of me thought otherwise. Why have I been feeling like this recently? It was like that other part of me _wanted _to be with him. I was so confused!

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the bell ringing. I never thought I could ever get out of my seat as fast as I did just now and gathered my things together before going out the door. I made my way to my locker to put everything away and to grab the bag I had my ballet stuff in. I was planning on seeing Red Alert once I got to the base so he could look at my arm and see if he'd allow me to practice my ballet a bit. Once I closed my locker I turned to find Alexis making her way to her locker and smiled.

"Hey, Alexis!" I called to her.

"Hey, Valerie!" She replied, coming over to where I was and opened her locker. "It's good to know that you're not grounded anymore."

"I know. I'm glad, too. I would've been miserable if it hadn't been for Jetfire coming over yesterday."

"Oh, so that's where he was yesterday! He wasn't around when Sideswipe arrived at the base."

"Sideswipe?" I asked.

"He's a new Autobot that just came here yesterday. You'll meet him when we get to the base." Alexis told me. She soon finished up with putting her stuff away before closing her locker and we made our way out of the school.

"That's good. I actually was starting to miss everyone." I turned to Alexis. "I haven't known them as long as you guys have, but is it strange that I got used to being around them so quickly?"

Alexis giggled.

"Not at all. Although it could be because we were around whenever you came with us."

"Maybe. I guess it's always been like that for me."

"So how are things with Jetfire?" Alexis suddenly asked.

"I-It's…it's not like that, Alexis." I felt my face heat up.

"You don't have to be afraid to tell me. I won't going to tell anyone."

I sighed.

"To be honest I'm not sure." I admitted. "All I know is that I'm comfortable being around him. Why?"

"I've just noticed you two spend a lot of time together. Even though he didn't show it I could tell he was a little disappointed when you didn't show up at the base."

"He was?" I was surprised by this news.

"Yeah. What kind of tipped me off was that he left the base after reading the letter you wrote to him saying that he had to go somewhere. From what I've gathered so far he really cares about you."

We soon walked out the doors of the school and I was greeted with the sight of a blue Nissan Skyline R32 Coupe parked out front next to the sidewalk.

"Hey, Sideswipe!" Alexis said after running up to the car.

"This is Sideswipe?" I asked once I was next to her.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Anyways, I'd like you to meet Valerie."

"So you're Valerie." The car (which turned out to be Sideswipe) said. "I heard a lot about you from Alexis and the others."

"R-really?" I felt my face heat up slightly.

"Yeah!"

Alexis giggled.

"Why don't you ride with Sideswipe and get to know each other." She suggested. "We're all going to the base anyways."

"How 'bout it, Valerie?" He asked.

"I-I guess it's okay."

"Great!" Sideswipe opened the passenger side door. "Hop on it."

I was a little hesitant to get inside Sideswipe. So far, the only transformers I had ridden inside where Jetfire, Blurr, and Red Alert. I would be okay riding with him, right?

"Go on!" Alexis gave me a light shove towards Sideswipe. "He's not going to bite you!"

I felt my face heat up slightly before getting inside Sideswipe's car form. I was about to shut the door but he beat me to it; the seatbelt snaked across my chest before buckling myself before he started making his way through town. It was quiet as Sideswipe continued driving and I started twiddling my thumbs awkwardly.

"So…" I started, staring at my lap feeling a little nervous. "…what did I miss yesterday?"

"Oh, nothing much. I actually arrived yesterday and was being trained under Hot Shot. My bro actually saved my life, too!" He told me.

"Your bro?"

"Yep, my bro Hot Shot."

"Wait! Hot Shot's your brother?" My eyes widened in surprise.

"Well, not relation-wise or the term 'blood-related' you humans use. I call him my bro because I consider him like family to me."

"There's nothing wrong with that." I gave a small smile. "I'm guessing you met Jetfire?"

"Jetfire? He wasn't at the base when I arrived, but I did meet him when he got back a few hours after Hot Shot saved my life. Said something about being with 'Skydancer'. You wouldn't happen to know who she is, do you?"

I felt my face heat up.

"That's…that's what Jetfire calls me." I said quietly. "He calls me Skydancer because I take ballet and I like gazing at the sky. It was a nickname he gave me."

"That's pretty interesting."

I got used to talking with Sideswipe that I didn't know how much time passed until I realized we reached the base. He opened the passenger side door and I grabbed my bag before getting out; once I got out he transformed into his true form.

I saw that Sideswipe had blue optics, his forearms and legs being a yellow color while the lower parts of both of them respectfully were blue. The majority of his torso was white with only the chest piece being blue where his Autobot symbol was displayed proudly in its red color. Just by looking at him I could tell that he had the same confidence as Hot Shot, if not a somewhat milder version of it.

I turned towards the entrance just in time to see Alexis and the others ride in on their Mini-Cons (with the exception of Fred and Billy who had to ride their bikes. Guess which one was tired?).

"Glad you were able to made it!" Sideswipe said jokingly.

"Hey! Some of us had to bike our way here!" Fred complained. No surprise, right?

"It's wasn't that bad." Carlos said.

"That'd be because you three have Mini-Cons." Billy stated.

It was at that time that I heard the sound of transformer footsteps coming from down the hallway and I turned around to see Hot Shot as well as Optimus and Smokescreen approaching us.

"Good to see you again, kids." Optimus said.

"Same here!" Rad replied.

I looked among the Autobots currently with us and I realized Jetfire wasn't here. Usually he would've been here to greet me, but he wasn't.

"Where's Jetfire?" I asked, looking up at Optimus.

"He's recharging in his quarters at the moment." Optimus answered as he gazed down at me.

"Recharging?"

"It's what you humans would refer to as 'sleeping'. You can go see him if you want."

"I-I…I was actually thinking of waiting for him to wake up while I checked in with Red Alert about my arm." I stuttered, my face heating up.

"Really?" Hot Shot suddenly asked. "I dare you to go see him if he isn't awake by the time you're done with Red Alert."

"W-what?" My face got even more warmer than it should've. "I-I can't… T-that's…"

"I would have to agree with Hot Shot." Optimus said, taking us all by surprised that he'd even say that in the first place. This was something none of us had expected him to do. "I dare you to do so if he isn't up by that time."

"I…um…"

"That's an order, Valerie."

Great. Not only did they put me up to this, but Optimus practically ordered me to go to Jetfire's quarters. I sighed before making my way down the hallway towards the med bay. I can't believe they were making me do this! I could just wait for him to wake up, but I couldn't now because of a silly dare. I soon found myself coming closer to the doors of the med bay and jumped slightly when they opened automatically (I was still trying to get used to it) before walking inside. I spotted Red Alert typing at a giant computer monitor.

"Red Alert?" I called out.

That seemed to get his attention since he turned to look at where I was.

"Valerie. I was expecting you to come." He said.

Red Alert came over and crouched down as he lower his hand so I could climb on. As soon as I was on he stood up and moved over to a berth where he deposited me on.

"I was wondering if I'd be able to practice my ballet a bit if my arm looks okay." I told him.

"So you finally admit to what's in your bag." Red Alert smirked slightly as he unwrapped the bandages from around my left arm.

"Yeah…" I hung my head. "I didn't know what you all would think if I said anything."

"That's nothing to be ashamed about. As long as it's something you enjoy doing then the opinion of others won't really matter." Once the bandages were unwrapped to show where I had the liquid stitches. Red Alert started scanning the cut (I admit it looked a bit better than when I last saw it) to see how it was doing. "The cut on your arm seems to be doing fine and can remain unwrapped. I believe you'll be able to practice your ballet, but keep in mind that you'll have to be careful with your arm."

"That's good." I smiled in relief.

"Looks like Jetfire hasn't showed up." Red Alert suddenly said.

"What? You mean you were in on this, too?"

"Yes. Optimus informed me of your dare while you were making your way down here. He wanted me to make sure that you went through with it."

'_Great…_' I thought.

"Where are his quarters?" I asked.

"It's down the hallway to your right when you exit the med bay. It will be the fifth door when you continue going straight." Red Alert picked me up and placed me on the floor. "Remember to be careful with your arm."

"I will."

I headed out of the med bay and went down the hallway to my right. It was when I got to a point where the hallway went off to the left in one direction while the other one continued straight; I continued going straight, counting down the huge doors until I came to the fifth one that Red Alert told me was Jetfire's quarters.

It slid open as I approached the door and it took all my willpower to resist the urge to jump like earlier. I cautiously walked inside, my right hand tightening around the straps of the bag I was carrying in nervousness. I only walked about a few yards away from the door when I heard it hiss shut and I was left standing in a somewhat dimly lit room that was big enough for a transformer to stay in comfortable (although that was kind of the point). From where I was I could make out Jetfire's form sleeping (recharging as Optimus had told me earlier) on a berth. I approached the berth, all the while looking for some way to get on top, but I wasn't able to find one. Suddenly Jetfire started moving and I froze in place, only to sigh in relief when I saw that he had only shifted around in his recharge so that he was laying on his stomach while his left arm was hanging over the edge of the berth. I looked at it and realized that I would be able to get on top by climbing up his arm. I glanced down at my left arm, wondering if climbing would do anything to it.

'_I just hope I don't hurt myself._' I thought.

I placed my bag on the ground before coming over to Jetfire's arm and looked up at it. Despite it not being a good idea to do so, it was the only way for me to get to the top. I placed my on his hand and gripped tightly to it before I started climbing. My left arm throbbed faintly, but I knew I had to continue. After some time (I was currently near where his elbow was) I made the mistake of looking down and I gulped when I saw how far up I was from the ground. I shook my head slightly, trying to get rid of the fear I felt. I couldn't be scared; I had to continue. I was almost there.

Eventually I managed to make it to the top of the berth and slowly made my way over until I stood in front of Jetfire's face. I could tell he was asleep since his optics were deactivated, but what caught my attention was that his gold face mask wasn't covering his mouth (I had to squint to see and only then I could barely make out the outline of it). Moving closer I hesitatingly placed my hand on what I assumed was his cheek and was surprised at how warm the smooth surface felt. I let my hand light brush over his face, trying to feel the features of it like a blind person would, until I felt it curved and my face heated up slightly when I realized they were his lips. Jetfire seemed to sigh contently in his sleep and I felt the warm air lightly blow on me, causing me to shiver slightly as goosebumps formed on my arms.

Suddenly Jetfire's optics lit up to the gold color I was used to, widening in surprise when he spotted me before shooting up in an upright position quickly before I heard the sound of metal clinking together. The lights in the room suddenly turned on and I brought my arms up to cover my eyes from the bright light (since my eyes had been used to the room being dark).

"Valerie?" Jetfire asked, sounding surprised to see me. "What are you doing here?"

I managed to get my eyes to adjust to the light before moving my arms away. I looked up at Jetfire and felt somewhat disappointed when I realized that his gold face mask was now covering his mouth. So that would explain the clinking metal sound I heard before the lights came on.

"I-I'm sorry…" I said quietly, looking away. "I didn't mean to."

"I can obviously see that, but back to my original question. What are you doing here?"

"I noticed you weren't around when we got here and Optimus told me you were still 'recharging'. At least I think that was the term he used." I looked back up at Jetfire in time to see him nodded. Rather it was to confirm I used the right term or him just telling me to continue, I wasn't quite sure. "Both he and Hot Shot dared me to come here…well, Optimus actually _ordered _me to do it, too. So…uh…here I am."

"So Hot Shot _and _Optimus dared you, huh? Looks like I'm gonna have to figure out a way to get back at them." Jetfire laughed, but it seemed like he forced himself to.

"What's wrong, Jetfire?" I asked, feeling concerned.

I saw Jetfire tense slightly before his shoulders shagged a bit and he looked away from me. I was suddenly reminded of how he was yesterday when I mentioned his family, that nostalgic mood that I saw him in. Was this because I mentioned it in the first place? I went over to where his hand rested on his berth and placed mine on top of it. This caused him to look at his hand before he looked at me.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I reassured him.

"No." He told me, looking away from me again. "I probably should've told you yesterday when you asked." I pulled my hand away when he started moving his until it was in front of me with the palm face up. Realizing what he wanted me to do I climbed onto his hand and he started lifting me up until I was held close to his chest. Jetfire released a sad sigh before he spoke up again. "Today is the anniversary of when my mother was offlined, 'killed' or any other word similar to that, as you would say. It's been 70,000 years since then. You realize how many years that would be by human standards, right?"

"7 years." I suddenly felt sad as I realized just how hard and painful this probably was for him to tell me about this. Sure 7 years might not be much, but it's not easy to forget the death of someone you loved or were closed to.

"Right. 7 years."

"What was her name?" I asked, curious to know about his mother.

"Her name was Astera. She was the one who would always sing the Cybertronian Lullaby to me. She didn't like to fight, but my father fought for the Autobots during the war, this war. I don't remember his name since he died when I was 5 by human standards, and since then she did whatever she could to raise me. She used to call me 'her little Jetfire'. I…couldn't have asked for a better mother…"

I looked up at his face. Jetfire sounded like he wanted to cry, but I didn't see any tears or whatever was the equivalent of crying for transformers. Was he holding them back? I opened my mouth, wanting to ask how Astera died, but he beat me to it.

"I had enlisted to fight with the Autobots against the Decepticons despite how much she didn't want me to, but she knew I had to. And it wasn't until 20,000 years later that I finally got to see her for the first time when I was on leave. She was so happy to see me after so long. She was murdered by a few Decepticons that had invaded our home…and ever since then I've been fighting in this war against the enemy."

I felt my eyes water up and before I knew it a few tears fell from my eyes. Jetfire had always seemed like a happy-go-luck guy whenever I saw him that I never even thought he could've had something so…so horrible happen in his life. At that moment I felt like I was seeing a side to Jetfire that he rarely showed or hid from everyone else he knew. I wasn't sure if I should've felt proud or sad, but I felt something. I felt like I had to do something, anything to help him.

"Jetfire?" I asked, causing him to look at me. "Could you lift me up to your shoulder?"

Jetfire complied with my request and brought me up to his shoulder. As soon as he unwrapped his fingers from around my body I suddenly found myself spreading my arms across the side of his neck in an attempt to hug him. This must've surprise him as much as it did for me since he probably hadn't expected me to hug him.

"S-Skydancer?" He stuttered slightly.

"I'm sorry, Jetfire." I said quietly, trying to comfort him. "I didn't realize how painful this probably was for you to talk about. I'm…I'm here for you."

Jetfire wrapped a hand around me before bringing me back to his chest where he held me close to him in his way of hugging me back. I felt like he needed to have someone to be there for him.

'_But am I the right person that he needs?_' I thought. I suddenly felt sad. '_What if I'm not the right one?_"

"Thank you, Skydancer." Jetfire suddenly said, his voice quiet. "Thank you for being here for me."

"You're welcome." I felt my face heat up slightly. "But why did you tell me this? It wasn't to help my self-esteem, was it?"

"Not entirely. I told you because you're my sp-" Jetfire stopped himself before speaking again. "You're my friend. I trust you enough to tell you and know you wouldn't let anyone else know about it."

"I'm the only one who knows about this?" I asked, shocked.

"Besides Optimus and Red Alert, you're the only other person who knows what happened in detail. Everyone else just knows that she died, but not how." He seemed to cheer up a bit. "But what I want to know is how did you managed to get up to my berth?"

"I…um…I climbed up your arm when it was hanging off the edge."

I felt nervous when I saw the look on Jetfire's face (at least what I could see of it) and he suddenly brought me up to his optic level, turning me to face the direction left of him in order to examine my arm.

"You're arm isn't wrapped up. You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"My arm was only sore for a bit while I was climbing, but I didn't use it that much. Plus it's fine now." I told him. "I asked Red Alert and he said I was allowed to practice my ballet."

"Really?" Jetfire asked, seeming excited as he turned to face him. "So that means I get to watch you practice then?"

I giggled, my face heating up slightly.

"Yeah. You get to watch me practice. I actually brought my stuff with me. I left it down there." I pointed to where my bag was on the floor. "Could you put me down?"

"Sure thing!"

Jetfire lowered me to the floor and I went over to my bag. I pulled my ballet slippers out, but then I realized something. I couldn't practice in what I was wearing at the moment. I had the outfit I wore whenever I went to practice, but there was also the fact that Jetfire was around and I felt my face heat up.

"Um…Jetfire?"

"What is it?"

"It's…I can't exactly dance in what I'm wearing and…" I trailed off.

Jetfire seemed to realize what I was saying.

"Don't worry!" He said, standing up from his berth and turn around so his back faced me and to allow me some privacy. "I won't look!"

"Thank you."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Even if he couldn't see Jetfire could hear the sound of Valerie going through her bag before the sound of clothes shifting reached his audio receptors, indicating that she was changing. He thought back on earlier when he had found her standing in front of him when he woke up. It had started when he had felt her hand on his cheek before it had lightly brushed his face as it made its way to his lips. Even now he could still remember the feeling on her hand on his lips and he had to admit he liked it. But the fact that she had been so close and right in front of him had been so exhilarating that it had taken all his willpower not to grab her and-!

He stopped himself. Jetfire knew if he had done that he probably would've scared her off and jeopardized the friendship what was steadily building its way towards that point (at least he hope it was). And it didn't help that he almost told her that she was his sparkmate. He had noticed yesterday when they had been working on that puzzle that she was showing one of the signs that she was unconsciously responding to him (and the faint connection between them that she wasn't even aware of) by telling him that she was comfortable being around him.

And then there was the fact that she had been so close to seeing his face that he had always kept hidden behind the gold face mask. Fortunately the lights had been off so she couldn't really see anything. He had always kept it hidden ever since his mother died and the only time he ever took if off was whenever he went to sleep in his quarters; the only people that had actually seen him without it had Optimus whenever they had been behind closed doors to discuss certain matters concerning the war. He wasn't ready to show her his face yet, but he swore he would someday when they were finally able to be together.

"Hey, Jetfire?" Valerie's voice called, breaking his chain of thought.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"You know how you told me that sparklings are babies?"

"What about them?"

"Were you…you know, a cute sparkling?"

Jetfire felt his lips pull upward into a smile behind his face mask. He was happy to know that she was curious and wanted to know more about him.

"Of course I was! As you humans would say, I was as cute as a button! I have a picture of when I was a sparkling if you want to see it."

"I'd loved to." He heard her say.

"Okay, I'll show you when you're done changing."

From his subspace he pulled out the picture he had of him as a sparkling being held by his mother. He still missed her. He was glad that he was able to tell Valerie about her, but he hoped that by telling her it would help her to accept him when the time came to confess his feelings to her.

'_Mom, I have a feeling that wherever you are, you're probably watching and either laughing, smiling, or doing both at me and how I'm dealing with all this._' He thought. '_You never said anything about this being _hard_!_'

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I soon managed to finish tying my ballet slippers (after having changed into my dance outfit) and stood up from where I was sitting. My practice outfit consisted of a light blue leotard that covered my shoulders, with white tights, and a light blue chiffon wrap ballet skirt. Despite his back being turned to me I could make out that he was gazing down at something he held in his hand.

"Okay, you can turn around now." I told him.

Jetfire turned around to face me and I saw his optics widen in surprise when he saw my appearance and my face heated up slightly.

"Wow! Y-you look great!" He said, causing my face to get warmer.

"T-thanks." I noticed what he was holding in his hand and realized that it must've been the picture he was telling me about. "Is that the picture?"

"Sure is."

Jetfire crouched down and placed it on the floor since it was too big for me to hold (it about the size of two doors side by side) before sitting on the floor with his back leaning against the side of his berth. I looked at the picture and saw that it was of a female transformer holding a sparkling. I instantly recognize the sparkling as being Jetfire and I could help but smile at how cute he was. It was like looking at a chibi version of him, but at the same time it wasn't a chibi version.

'_He really was as cute as a button._' I thought.

My gaze landed on the female transformer (if I remember correctly I had heard a few of the Autobots used the term 'femme') and I realized that she must've been Jetfire's mother, Astera. She had violet colored optics that gazed lovingly into the camera that had been taking the picture at the time, along with a beautiful smile gracing her lips. Her overall coloration was a light green with some areas on her arms and helm being a light pink and yellow. This was the first time I've seen a femme and I had to admit that she was beautiful for a transformer. It was hard to believe that she was dead.

"Is this…Astera?" I asked.

"Yeah. That's my mother." He replied. He sounded melancholy.

"She's beautiful. I wish I could've met her."

"I could say the same thing. Only problem is that this was 70,000 years _before _you were born." He chuckled. "But I have a feeling she would've liked you."

I looked at Jetfire and saw that his gaze was focused on his mother.

"You really were a cute sparkling." I told him, feeling my face heat up slightly.

Jetfire laughed.

"Told you! Now this means you can't go around telling the others you saw my sparkling pictures, okay?"

"I promise." I smiled. I was glad I got to see this side of Jetfire.

"Good." He took the picture back before putting it away…somewhere. "Ready when you are!"

"Okay." I felt my face heat up again.

I took a deep breathe in order to calm myself down. I stood on the tips of my toes and before I knew it I found my dancing, my legs seeming to have a mind of their own as they guided me. Before I would've been too nervous to dance in front of Jetfire, but after having spent some time with him I've become more comfortable being around him. The feeling was almost similar to being around Ms. Sanders, but stronger. After some time I was done dancing and I realized, to my surprise, that I didn't mess up or fall. I could hear Jetfire clapping and I looked up at him.

"You did great!" He exclaimed once he finished clapping. "Very nice performance!"

"Thanks." I smiled, my face heating up as I looked downwards. Even if I was comfortable around him, I still wasn't exactly used to all these praises I was getting from him. "I'm going to change back into my regular outfit, if that's okay?"

"Oh! Sure thing!"

Jetfire turned around to that he wasn't looking. As quickly as I was able to I changed out of my practice outfit and into my regular clothes. It was just as I was putting my shoes on that the alarm started going off.

"Is it okay for me to turn around now?" Jetfire asked and I could hear the urgency in his voice.

"Yes." I replied just as I got my other shoe on.

Jetfire turned around and I was suddenly surprised when he scooped me up in his hands before leaving his quarters and running down the hallway towards the command center. As soon as he ran into the room everyone was _staring_. Like staring that involved awkward silence. _Really _awkward silence.

"Looks like you managed to get Jetfire out of his room." Optimus said, breaking the silence.

"Actually the alarm sort of did that." I said.

"_Hello_? I'm standing right _here_!" Jetfire stated.

Everyone started laughing a bit and even I giggled a bit.

"Anyways, back to the issue at hand." Optimus said. "It seems that a Mini-Con has been detected."

"Ah yeah! We finally have ourselves another mission we can go on!" Fred cheered.

"I'm sorry, but you won't be able to come this time."

"What?"

"But Optimus!" Rad protested.

"As much as I know you want to help I can't let you come this time. You have to understand."

"Okay."

"Red Alert, I want you to stay at the base. Everyone else come with me."

The rest of the Autobots started filing out of the room and I turned to look at Jetfire.

"Please be careful out there, okay?" I asked him.

"I'll try, Skydancer." Jetfire replied.

Jetfire placed me on the floor before he left the room as well. I turned to gaze and the screen, watching as the Autobots that were going out to retrieve the Mini-Con warped out of the base to their destination. I thought back to how well I did when I was practicing my ballet in front of Jetfire, only to feel the blood drain for my face as my eyes widened when I suddenly remembered something!

"My performance is this Friday." I said out loud.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire flew through the air in the direction of where the Mini-Con signal was coming from, overjoyed that he was finally able to come on this mission. He hadn't been on one since they had obtained the Requiem Blaster and he was glad to finally feel the freedom of flying through the sky. But just as they were getting close to the signal they were suddenly being fired on by the Decepticons. He barely avoided being shot at from behind by Thrust and Cyclonus and quickly transformed in midair before firing his blaster at them. Jetfire smirked behind his face mask as he watched the two Decepticons plummeted towards the ground.

"That was too easy!" Jetfire said excitedly over his victory.

But his victory didn't last long since he felt a blast hit him in his left wing. If it had been any other part (like his arm or leg) of him that had been hit it wouldn't have been so bad. But since the wings of all flyer type Transformers were more sensitive than any other place the pain was more intense than usual. Jetfire managed to catch himself and turned around just in time to be blasted in his other wing and lower chest by Starscream, making him the one falling towards the ground. It was then that Jetfire suddenly remembered his mother, Astera.

_**He could still remember what happened after he had taken care of the Decepticons that had invaded his home vividly. He remembered holding her delicate frame close to him during her last moments alive. She had gazed at him, her violet colored optics leaking tears as they looked into his gold ones. She gave him a sad smile before placing a hand on the side of his face that was unmasked.**_

"_**My little Jetfire…" She had said, her voice sounding weak. "You've grown up into a handsome mech…just like your father. You may not think so right now…but I know you'll find your sparkmate. Maybe not in this millennia or the next…but you will someday. And I hope…that you'll be happy with her…"**_

"_**Mom! Don't leave me!" He had begged, feeling his own tears falling from his optics.**_

"_**I'll always love you, my little Jetfire…"**_

Jetfire's body impacted the ground, his body way more than _just _sore. He found himself staring up at the blue sky and it was then that he suddenly thought of Valerie. Originally it was after his mother had died that he thought he had nothing left to lose by fighting in the war. But now that he had finally found his sparkmate he had a new reason to fight. As he continued gazing up at the sky he thought he could see her above him, gazing at him with her blue eyes, smiling at him.

"Skydancer…" Jetfire said quietly.

He lifted his hand as he tried to reach out to touch her, but he was unable to reach her. He realized she wasn't really there when Smokescreen came into his view before helping the shuttle mech up and supporting him.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"So you're worried since you have a performance this Friday and your parents won't be able to come, right?" Alexis asked, making sure that she had understood what I told her.

Both Alexis and I were standing outside the command center so that we could talk in private. I had just explained to her about the performance that was coming up.

"Yes. I can't believe I forgot until now, and it's only 3 days away." I told her.

"Well, we could always come and watch, maybe even give you some support."

"That's true."

I gasped, my eyes wide as I…felt something. It was a strange feeling, almost like the one Miss Clavel got when 'something wasn't right' in the Madeline books, but it was different. Suddenly the thought of Jetfire invaded my mind and before I knew it I found myself running in the direction of the launching dock.

"Valerie, wait!" I heard Alexis call out as she ran after me.

I was surprise to find myself ignoring her. Normally I would've listened to her, but the strange feeling I had wouldn't let me and it seemed to take top priority over everything else in my life. It scared me knowing that the feeling was causing me to do this and at the moment I felt like I was on autopilot. I ran through the door leading to the launching dock just as the Autobots that had gone on the mission had warped back into the base and my eyes widened in shock when I caught sight of Jetfire's battered form as he was leaning on Smokescreen as the orange Autobot helped him walk. I watched as the shuttle mech lifted his head up before his gold optics made eye contact with me and I wanted to run up to him, but something was stopping me from doing so and keeping me from moving. Even after I spotted Red Alert running past me to help Smokescreen carry Jetfire out of the room (and to the med bay, I presumed) I still didn't move. Only one thing went through my mind at that moment.

'_He's hurt…!_' I thought.

I don't know how long I stood there, but I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder, causing me to come back to my senses and turn to see Alexis standing next to me. That was when I realized that that the others had left and that we were the only two left.

"Are you okay, Valerie?" She asked.

"I don't know." I told her quietly. "I'm so confused and I don't know what to feel."

"What do you mean?"

"I feel relieved that he's okay, but at the same time I'm overly worried and upset. It's really confusing me, Alexis."

Alexis gazed at me, showing concern as I could tell that she was thinking of something before she smiled.

"Maybe we should get you something to drink, then we can see Jetfire." She suggested.

"No!" I shook my head. I was surprised that I was being like this. "I have to see him _now_. Something's telling me to go to him. I don't expect you to understand, heck I don't even understand it myself."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we were talking outside the command center and I ran off?" Alexis nodded before I continued. "Before I ran off I got this strange feeling that something was wrong and for some reason I suddenly thought of Jetfire. It's hard to explain."

"It's okay, Valerie. You can go see him if you have to."

I smiled before hugging Alexis.

"Thank you."

I stopped hugging her before I left the launching dock to make my way to the med bay. As I got closer I started to feel a little nervous and started dreading the worse. What if Red Alert was still busy repairing Jetfire and I wasn't able to see him? What if Jetfire didn't want to see me? What if he…what if he was offlined?

'_Don't think like that!_' I told myself. '_Jetfire can't be offline. He's stronger than that._'

I thought back to the strange feeling that I had experience. Why did I have that feeling and what did it mean? It was like I knew something happened to Jetfire before I even saw him in the state that he was in when the Autobots got back from the mission. Was it some form of ESP or something?

'_What's going on with me lately?_'

I soon found myself coming up to the door leading into the med bay and it opened as I approached. From where I was I could see Jetfire laying on a berth as Red Alert looked like he was typing something into the console (what was with me and finding him at that console today?) that I assumed was probably a medical log or something. He must've finished whatever he was typing since he stopped tapping at the keys.

"You do realize that you're allowed to come in, Valerie." He suddenly said, making me jump. How did he even know I came in?

'_Oh, right. The door._' I thought, mentally hitting myself for being stupid.

"Sorry. I really wasn't sure if you were still working on Jetfire or not." I told him.

"I've already finished repairing him so it's fine." Red Alert came over to where I was before holding out a hand for me to climb on. He carried me over to where Jetfire was before allowing me to climb of and onto the berth near his head. "I'm going off to the rec room in case you need anything. So until then you two will be the only ones here."

"Thank you, Red Alert."

Red Alert nodded before he left the med bay, the door sliding close behind him. I turned to look at Jetfire's face, noticing that his optics were deactivated. I was surprised by how peaceful he looked while he was recharging, despite having gotten beat up. I quietly went closer to his face so that I was standing right next to the right side of it and placing a hand on his gold face mask where I thought his cheek was. I felt my eyes water up with tears.

"Jetfire…" I said quietly, feeling the tears forming in my eyes start to fall. "I just hope you feel better soon. I know you said you'd try not to get hurt, but…" I stopped myself, thinking of something else to say while lowering my gaze. "I keep worrying about you whenever you go out."

"Then don't."

My eyes widened when I heard Jetfire speak and looked up to see his optics online.

"Jetfire!" I suddenly found myself spreading my arms across the side of his head in an attempt to hug him.

"Primus! I knew you were worried, but I didn't think you'd worry _this _much!" Jetfire chuckled. "Maybe I should get hurt more often if you're going to react like this."

"No! It's bad enough I'm this worried as it is." I shook my head. "It doesn't help that today's been a little weird for me."

I suddenly felt one of Jetfire's hands wrap around me before moving me over so that I was held in near the front of his face, my hair handing in front of my face from the way I was being held.

"You do realize that _I'm_ Vice Commander, remember?" I nodded. "So that means I can order you around just like Optimus. And my first order is that you _don't _worry about me at the moment." He said, trying to reassure me. "As for my next order you can stop crying now since you don't need to. I'm completely fine and it's nothing a little rest and energon can't fix."

Jetfire then pulled me away from his face and bringing me over to where the Autobot symbol was on his chest, unwrapping his fingers from around my body so that I was able to lay down on his before hand covered it like a blanket (considering I was on top of the area over his spark and that his hand was also warm as well).

"So tell me what you meant by 'today's been a little weird for you', Skydancer?" He asked.

"Well, it's kind of weird…" I started.

"We've already established that part."

"It was earlier that I had this weird feeling, like I knew something was wrong or something bad happened, and for some reason I immediately thought of you. It was like everything else didn't matter and the only thing that was important was getting to the launching dock. It was when I saw you in the state that you were in when you guys got back that I realized that feeling I had was right."

"When did this feeling start?"

I felt confused and started to wonder why Jetfire was suddenly curious about the weird feeling I had.

"The one I told you about was the first time I had it. I don't know what going on with me. Is this normal?"

I looked at Jetfire and I thought I saw something in his optics before it was gone. I was probably imagining it.

"Probably some 'gut instinct', as you humans would say. Nothing to worry about, which _you_ shouldn't be _doing _right now!"

"I'm so glad you're okay, Jetfire." I smiled before placing the side of my face down on top of his chest, my eyelids feeling a little heavy.

"Tired?" Jetfire asked.

"No, just…" I yawned. "…yawning."

"Looks to you are." I had a feeling that he was smirking behind his face mask. "There's nothing wrong with taking a nap, so why not get some shut eye, Skydancer?"

"Fine…"

I yawned again before shutting my eyes. It was as I was drifting to sleep that I noticed how warm and comfortable Jetfire was.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire gazed at Valerie as he watched her fall asleep, causing him to smile from behind his face mask. He realized that she had shown another sign that she was responding to him and had cleverly gave her the excuse that it was 'gut instinct'. He stared up at the ceiling before deactivating his optics as one thought crossed his processor.

'_It's starting._'

* * *

ATE: There you have it! As you've all probably guessed the new OC is, in fact, Astera (Jetfire's mom). The name itself was an idea I've had and I thought it would be a nice name to use for a femme. With the fact that I've introduced Jetfire's mom into the story, I'm actually now considering the idea of writing a side story that tells of the events of Astera and Jetfire's life up until her death. What do you all think?

Oh! Recently I had uploaded a picture I drew of Valerie on deviantart (I drew it back in school) that I had posted last month after finally managing to scan it into the computer. Here's the link (take out the spaces, of course):

**_http :/ aerith-the-evenstar . deviantart . com /#/ d3j 2e 87_**

Thanks for reading this chap! Please leave a review; and if you have any ideas you'd like me to use in a future chap of this story feel free to tell me and I'll give you credit for any ideas provided. ;D


	9. Sacrifice

ATE: Hey, everyone! I recently got back from a week long vacation in Grand Cayman and I actually wrote this chap while I was there, which left me to just type it up and here we are. I also saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 today and I loved it! I wanna thank **Crystalmaiden62**, **Mistress Megatron**, **pokemonjkl**, **Diamond White**, **4elementsfan4621**, **Bumblebeecamaro38**, and **the familiar friend** for their reviews on chap 8. I want to thank **Diamond White **again for a few ideas I used in this chap that they gave me a month ago. I hope everyone enjoys the chap that covers the events of Episode 33 (Sacrifice)!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OC Valerie.

* * *

Chapter 9 - Sacrifice

I stood in front of the monitor with Alexis and the others and Red Alert as we watched what was going on through Laserbeak's optics. The other Autobots were currently hiding in the jungle. Smokescreen was left behind to watch and protect the Mini-Cons that created the Requiem Blaster. Earlier today the Autobots were informed about the Decepticons being out in the jungle. You're probably wondering who informed us of this. The thing is that none of us knew who told us or where it came from. Personally I thought it seemed suspicious, but Optimus believed it to be true and went out with the Autobots to check it out. I was worried since I knew Jetfire was out there. After what happened to him yesterday I was worried that he wasn't well enough to fight, yet something reassured me that it was going to be okay. Maybe it's my gut instinct like last time. At least I think so.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't get a good feeling about this." I heard Jetfire say quietly.

"I really don't care how you _feel_, Jetfire, just keep your eyes peeled, understand?" Scavenger said.

"So how come we didn't bring the Requiem Blaster?" Hot Shot asked.

"Would you keep it _quiet_, Hot Shot!" Blurr hissed.

"Hey! I'm just askin'."

"How long do we have to _wait_ out here? This humidity's killing my circuits." Jetfire complained.

"A good soldier is patient, Jetfire." Optimus told him.

"Yeah, yeah…" The shuttle mech said it in a dismissive tone.

This left me confused and concerned. Confused because I was wondering how a transformer could feel temperature, let alone to the point that Jetfire would complain about the jungle's humidity. Concerned because Jetfire probably wasn't used to being in a location with a the kind of temperature the jungle had since he had been used to the climate that we had where we lived.

'_I hope he'll be okay._' I thought.

It was then that I felt that wave of reassurance I felt not too long go and I closed my eyes, imagining that Jetfire was here reassuring me.

_**{Hey, don't worry about me! I'll be fine!} **_I imagined him telling me. _**{It's nothing I can't handle!}**_

I smiled slightly at the thought. I could definitely imagine him saying that to me right now. It was strange, but at the same time it wasn't.

One of the Mini-Cons bleeped.

"Oh, please. Would you all just calm down and relax? Even on the off-chance the Decepticons find our base, we're here to look after you little guys." They bleeped, sounding unsure. "In fact, Optimus himself put me in direct charge of protecting you. Which means you have absolutely nothing to worry about, little guys." Smokescreen told the three Mini-Cons in an attempt to reassure them. The Mini-Cons bleeped negatively, causing a confused expression on the orange Autobot's face. "Huh? Okay, I don't have a clue what you're saying, but let me explain it to you in _plain_ English again, okay? I PROMISE YOU HAVE NOTHING AT ALL TO WORRY ABOUT!" He said it in a tone that he thought they would understand. They bleeped again, causing him to laugh like he had heard a joke. "You little guys crack me up."

"Carlos, we can't _make_ the Mini-Cons fight." Rad said.

I turned to look at my friends.

"But we _have_ to, Rad!" Carlos protested.

"I think you two _missed_ what Optimus was saying." Alexis stated, turning around to face the two. "Y'see, the Decepticons _know_ we have the Requiem Blaster, right? They don't know where, but they know we _have_ it." She turned back to the monitor. "And _that_ means…"

"...The enemy will be too afraid to try anything rash because they know _we_ have the ultimate weapon, and we might _even_ be able to win without firing a single shot!" Jetfire finished, seeming to have been listening in on our conversation.

"But what if…" Hot Shot sighed. "But what if they realize we have no intention of using it?"

"Because everyone here is going to keep their little yaps _shut_, Hot Shot, _that's_ how." Scavenger answered, seeming a bit irritated.

"Yeah." Blurr agreed.

Hot Shot sighed.

"I sure hope you're right." Hot Shot mused.

"I'm sure Optimus knew what he was doing when he came up with this plan." Scavenger explained. "Otherwise, he would have never left the three Requiem Mini-Cons back at the base."

"Well, I still don't like it, guys."

"Neither do I." Jetfire agreed. "I mean, _look_ at us! We're like sitting _ducks_ out here."

My eyes widened when I spotted a familiar Decepticon on the monitor.

"It's locked on!" Rad said. "And it's Starscream!"

"It looks like we got company, boys…" Jetfire said.

"I see him!" Hot Shot said.

"Don't fire!" Optimus ordered.

"Huh?"

"Let's let _him_ make the first _move_."

We watched as Starscream transformed and I gasped, seeing that he had the Star Saber in his possession.

"Look! The Star Saber!" Hot Shot exclaimed.

"Why does _he_ have it?" Blurr asked.

"Here I come, Autobots! You're all mine!" Starscream yelled out as he flew around and caused destruction. "So come out from your hiding places, you _cowards_, and face-the most powerful-Decepticon-in the universe!"

"Boy, he sure doesn't have a _self-image problem_, now _does_ he?" Jetfire said sarcastically.

"What is he thinking, there's no _way_ he can take us all on." Sideswipe said.

"Well I'd say he's _just_ an idiot." Hot Shot told him.

"He's not being cocky." Optimus stated. "With the Star Saber, Starscream truly believes he's invincible."

"So it's like I said! The creep's an idiot."

"I haven't got all day. If you're not coming out on your own, then I'll just flush you out!"

Suddenly Starscream fired a blast that caused the jungle to catch on fire.

"Move out, men!" Optimus ordered.

"Yes sir!" All the Autobots replied at once.

"Show yourselves, Autobots!" Starscream demanded. After awhile I could tell he was getting impatient when he saw that nothing was happening. "_Hello_! I'm still _waiting_ over _here_!"

"I think it's time to _bring_ _him down_." Optimus said.

"Alright! Let's _do_ this, guys!" Jetfire said.

We watched as Optimus and Jetfire transformed and combined together into Jet Optimus before flying off to take on Starscream. Eventually it started raining heavily that we could hardly tell what was going on.

"Would someone _please_ tell me what's going on?" Rad asked.

"Man, we can't see a _thing _through this rain." Carlos complained.

I started to worry again since I couldn't see what was going on. I was worried about everyone, especially Jetfire. My eyes widened when I realized that I was thinking of the Vice Commander and felt my face heat up slightly. Why was I so worried about him lately? Again I felt reassurance flood my mind, but this time it was accompanied by a calm presence that was different. It was like it was from two different people. I suddenly felt weird. Like I was a combination of lightheadedness and nauseated.

"Hey, are you okay, Valerie?" I suddenly heard Rad ask me.

I looked up to find everyone looking at me with concern. Even the Mini-Cons seemed to be concerned as well. Sky Blast came up to me and started bleeping, his head tilting slightly sideways in curiosity.

"I'm fine, Sky Blast." I told the Mini-Con, forcing myself to smile. He started bleeping again and I frowned slightly. "What? You don't believe me?" He bleeped. "I know you're worried about me, but I'm fine Really!" More bleeping. "Yes, I'm sure! Thank you for your concern, Sky Blast. I probably need to get out of this room for a bit."

I patted Sky Blast on his back before heading out of the room. I took a deep breath before releasing it shakily and wrapping my arms around myself. What was happening to me? I wanted so much as to yell in slight frustration, but it I did that everyone would be wondering why I did. I was scared and confused. I wanted to know what was happening to me, but I was too scared to ask anyone. The only people who knew about what happened yesterday were Alexis and Jetfire. What was happening to me and why?

_**{Calm down, Skydancer!}**_

My eyes widened and I looked around wildly, but I didn't see anyone at all.

_**{Worrying yourself to death isn't going to do you any good, Valerie!}**_

"J-Jetfire…?" I asked hesitantly, my voice quiet.

_**{Yeah, it's me, Skydancer.}**_

"But…but _how_?" My voiced squeaked when I said 'how' and I felt my face heat up in embarrassment.

_**{Don't know, can't really find out at the moment. Just stay calm for now and don't worry.}**_

"But Jetfire." I said. It felt like a thought left my mind and left me bewildered. "Jetfire?"

I didn't hear Jetfire's voice anymore. Did I… Was I imagining that I heard him in my head? Was it possible that the constant reassurance I felt was from him as well? I weaved my fingers through my hair as I held my head with both hands. Was I going crazy?

I decided to head back to the command center. Everyone was probably wondering what was taking me so long. I breathed deeply and let it out before entering. I walked in just in time to hear Fred yawning.

"Uh, Fred, do you mind?" Alexis asked, seeming to be slightly annoyed.

"Sorry." Fred said and covered his mouth with both hands.

"Hey, how come our monitor crashed?" Rad asked.

"Huh?" I said. I looked at the monitor and sure enough the screen had white flurries. "It crashed?"

"Yeah." Alexis replied. "We're not sure why, though. It was perfectly fine despite the rain."

"Ohhh… Look! I think someone's messing around with the camera, guys!" Fred said.

The screen showed us as if it were a mirror instead of a monitor and it was creeping me out.

"Aww, this is starting to get freaky!" Carlos said.

"Guys. Look. Look! Look!" Fred cried.

Instead of seeing the feedback from the battle all the screens showed parts of the base until we saw Smokescreen with the Mini-Cons.

"Huh? Let me check." Red Alert said, going over to the monitor to see what he could do. "The switcher must be on the fritz." He started pressing buttons but nothing seemed to work.

"Huh?" Rad seemed shocked as well.

"It's not responding."

"_Hahahaha…_" A deep, dark voice laughed, sending a chill down my spine and I felt uneasy. Suddenly the face of a transformer wearing a helmet with horns on both sides of his head appeared on the screen. "Surprise."

"Sideways!" Red Alert cried out in shock.

Sideways laughed sinisterly. He eventually stopped and I watched as his pink optics landed on me before chuckling darkly.

"_Hello, Valerie._"

My eyes widened in fear, not because he knew my name, but because I recognized his voice. It was the same as the man, Steve Wilder, who gave me a ride home the other day. But…but how?

"_I have my ways_." He suddenly said, causing me to gasp. It was as if he read my mind. I started shaking in fear. "_What's the matter? _Cat_…got your tongue?_"

"Kids! Get out of here, quickly!" Red Alert yelled out.

But despite the medic bot's command, I couldn't make myself move. It was like I was frozen in place unable to look away from Sideways.

"C'mon, Valerie!"

Suddenly I felt someone grab my right arm before dragging me out of the room. I looked to the person's arm and up at them to see it was Alexis dragging me. I could hear the loud footsteps of Red Alert following us and we soon stopped near a vent.

"Right here!" The Autobot said. He started working on getting the grate off and eventually he did. "Hide here and don't come out for anything." He then looked at Fred. "Not even for food."

I knew this hit Fred hard because of his expression. We all got inside and I suddenly felt a little claustrophobic hiding in the vent, but if it meant our safety then it didn't matter.

_**{Go on.} **_I suddenly heard Sideways' voice echo in my head, which freaked me out. _**{You can run and hide all you like, but you'll never get away.}**_

I could hear the thundering footsteps of a group of transformers running down the hallway and past our hiding place, my eyes widening when I recognized Thrust's legs. I started shaking and shut my eyes tight, hoping to escape reality.

_I didn't have such luck. I found Sideways standing in front of me instead of the darkness behind my eyelids, but strangely enough he was the size of a human. I tried thinking of Jetfire so I didn't have to see the Decepticon in front of me, which produced an image of the Autobot in front of me._

_**{So you're trying to ignore me by thinking of that lousy mech?} **__It was more of a statement than a question. _

_Suddenly Jetfire's image dissolved like smoke as Sideways walked right through it. I started shaking in fear as he slowly approached me like a predator._

"_You're not real." I whispered, trembling. "You're not real."_

_**{Oh no?} **_

_Sideways chuckled before I suddenly felt a jolt of pain throughout my body. I screamed before crumpling to the floor. The next thing I knew I was lifted off the floor as he had a hand wrapped around my throat in a vice-like grip. _

_**{I am **_**real**_**, femme.} **__He said menacingly. __**{I'm as real as your creators that raised you. I'm as real as the air you breath. I'm as real as everything you fear. I am fear, hate, and death itself. And your fear, sweet Valerie, is like dessert after a good meal.}**_

_On instinct my hands grabbed a hold of his wrist in an attempt to pry his hand off my throat, but all I was rewarded with was another jolt of pain in my body and a strangled cry escaping my lips. My body went limp afterwards and my breathing was heavy as I had difficulty breathing. _

"_L-let…let me…g-go…" I rasped._

_**{I'm not done with you yet, femme.} **__Sideways tightened his hold round my neck and I gagged, struggling to breathe. __**{Remember when I told you there wasn't a catch to the ride I gave you two days ago? Now there is one and there's no way for you to back out of this deal.}**_

"_W-what if I…refuse…?"_

_**{You won't. Because if you do everything you love and hold dear will be destroyed. Including him.}**_

_I noticed something appear out of the corner of my eye and I turned to look at it, only to have my eyes widen when I saw who it was and gasped._

"_J-Jet…fire…!" I cried, only to gag when Sideways' hand tightened around my neck._

_**{That's right, sweet Valerie. You care about him. But the thing is you haven't realized **_**how **_**much you truly do. Almost tragic, if you ask me.} **__He taunted. __**{So you have no choice but to accept the deal.}**_

"_I…accept… As long as it means…you'll leave me alone…" _

_**{I'll never leave you alone. Just like a shadow. As long as you have fear, I'll always be around. But as for your part of the deal.}**__ He tighten him hold again, making sure I was paying attention. __**{All you have to do is wait until the time comes for you to serve your purpose.}**_

_Sideways' hold on my neck was gone and I was dropped unceremoniously on the floor, my hand going to my throat as I breathed in mouthfuls of air. My eyes stung with tears as I realized what I got myself into. Why did I feel like I just made a deal with the devil?_

_**{Because you probably did.} **__Sideways said. __**{But I assure you, I'm **_**worse**_** than the devil **_**and**_** hell combined.}**_

"Optimus, we're in big trouble! Megatron's attacking the base!" Rad's voice said in a panicky tone.

I was brought back to reality and looked around wildly to fine myself back in the vents with my friends.

"What?" Optimus said, unsure if he heard him correctly.

"And Sideways is back!" Alexis added. The though of Sideways caused me to tremble in fear and I could imagine him laughing darkly at me.

"Are you sure?" Hot Shot asked.

"The security system _never_ even detected them!"

"Yeah, and they know where Smokescreen is too!" Carlos added.

I gasped, realizing that Smokescreen had the Mini-Cons with him! That meant the Decepticons were going after the Requiem Blaster!

"Valerie." Alexis suddenly said, causing me to look at her.

"What is it, Alexis?" I replied, clearly confused.

"How is it that Sideways _knew _your name?" She whispered, not wanting the others to overhear her. "You never met him before, and yet he talked to you as if he knew you."

"I…I don't know…" I lied. I knew how, but if I told her that, I was afraid that she'd be mad at me or worse. I didn't even want to think about it, either.

"Boy, did they ever _trash_ this place." I heard Sideswipe's voice say.

"Hello, can anyone hear me in here?" Hot Shot called out.

"Yeah, and we're down here, Hot Shot!" Fred replied.

"I thought they'd never show up…" Billy said.

"Are you boys all right?" Blurr asked.

"Just hungry." Fred said. Figures…

We all crawled out of the vent (which was when I noticed that the grate was slightly bent) and I was glad to be out. I didn't realize how sore I was until now.

"Red Alert told us we should hide inside here." Billy told them.

"It was amazing. The Decepticons knew everything about our security." Rad said.

"Yeah, because of Sideways." Alexis said grimly.

"That traitor…" Blurr growled.

"So where is Red Alert?" Scavenger asked.

"No clue, Scavenger." Carlos replied.

"H-he just showed us where to hide and then he just took off."

"First thing we have to do is find him." Hot Shot declared before turning to Sideswipe. "Sideswipe, you look after the kids."

"No problem. You can count on me." Sideswipe said.

"C'mon, men. There's no time to waste." Scavenger ordered.

With that Scavenger and everyone else ran down the hallway to find Red Alert, leaving us with Sideswipe. Sideswipe decided to take us to the command center where we'd be able to watch what was going on safely. I'm not sure how much time past but suddenly we all heard a scream and I gasped since I recognized it as Smokescreen. We switched through the footage on the monitor until we found one showing the Autobots and Decepticons. From what I could see Megatron had the Requiem Blaster in his possession!

"Oh no! They've got the Requiem Blaster!" Carlos exclaimed.

"You know, when I _think_ about it, it always amazes me how three _harmless_ Mini-Cons can transform into such a _powerful _weapon of mass destruction. Three _innocent_ androids. And they alone are about to change the course of history forever." Megatron laughed. "This war _is_ over!"

"Not if I can help it!" Smokescreen said.

Smokescreen suddenly grabbed his crane before throwing it at the Requiem Blaster and the wire successfully wrapped around the weapon, causing Megatron to stop laughing.

"What?"

"If you think this war is over, Megatron, you're sadly mistaken, because I'm only getting warmed up."

"Smokescreen!" Hot Shot cheered.

Smokescreen pulled on the wire in order to pull the Requiem Blaster away from Megatron. It left the Decepticon leader's hand, but he merely chuckled before the Requiem Blaster suddenly fired on the orange Autobot. Had the weapon itself been warming up to fire until now? The scream that Smokescreen let out would be one I'd never forget since it seemed to make my blood run cold. Not to mention watching the Autobot get hit by the blast was…horrifying, for lack of better words. The blast actually went _through _his chest and came out through his back. Even after being it, the blast sent him through the wall while making a hole in it.

"Incredible…" Megatron said. "I've never seen another weapon like it - in my _entire_ life!" He suddenly turned and aimed the Requiem Blaster at Optimus. "Now it's your turn, Optimus Prime!"

"Not so fast!" We were all surprised when Smokescreen started to get up, all the while struggling to do so.

"Huh?"

"Smokescreen!" Optimus yelled.

I don't blame him. I think all of us were horrified by the state Smokescreen was in. Even after being blasted by the Requiem Blaster he was still trying to stop Megatron. Smokescreen's body was literally melted (and still slowly melting) as he slowly staggered towards Megatron, but fell to the floor; whatever part of him that was touching the floor was causing it to melt underneath it like acid. The Decepticons were in awe of the sight as well as he eventually managed to get up again.

"Uhh, ahh. Megatron, sir, might I suggest we make a _hasty_ retreat?" Thrust asked, clearly disturbed by the state Smokescreen was in. "Seeing as you have what we came for... Uhhh…" He added as an afterthought.

"Yes." Megatron agreed. "An excellent suggestion, Thrust."

"Noooooooooo…" Smokescreen moaned.

"Hurry men, retreat!"

Despite everything Smokescreen was still determined to stop Megatron, but the Decepticons were gone. The orange Autobot fell to the ground with a loud _thump!_

"Smokescreen!" Optimus cried, running over to the fallen mech.

"We've gotta-" Hot Shot started, but stopped when Scavenger held up an arm to stop the yellow Autobot from going over. "Huh?"

We quickly left the command center and made our way to where the other Autobots where. We were all shocked at the sight and the condition Smokescreen was in.

"Smokescreen…" I heard Rad say quietly.

"Okay... Now take it easy, soldier." Optimus said quietly.

"I tried... ugh... to protect the Mini-Cons for you, sir." Smokescreen said weakly as he struggled to speak.

"I know."

I felt tears fall from my eyes as Smokescreen's body collapsed to the floor, seemingly lifeless. After everything that happened today we lost a good friend.

"We'll never forget you, soldier."

Optimus saluted Smokescreen as he gazed down at him. One by one the other Autobots did the same. I could hear Alexis and Fred crying (the latter holding onto Carlos as he did so loudly). Optimus pulled his hand away from his head, letting in fall to his side before clenching his hands into fists

"NNNNOOOOOOOOO!" Optimus let out a yell and I could hear the sadness in his voice.

I had never seen Optimus so emotional, especially like this. Although I doubt anyone has until now. Even though I've witnessed Jetfire in a state similar to this (but not even close to this extent) I realized that even the Autobots, as well as all transformers, were capable of feeling pain. It was at this point I understood this battle was personal and Optimus would do anything to avenge the loss of Smokescreen. I also realized that the transformers were not invincible like my friends made them out to be.

I was surprised when I felt a large hand being placed on my back, but realized it was Jetfire when he scooped me up and brought me to his chest over the area where his spark was. He started going off in some direction, but I was too preoccupied by many things. I was too scared to close my eyes in fear that I'd see Sideways there, and right now I didn't want that. I soon felt a breeze blowing on my face and I noticed we were outside before I heard Jetfire humming the Cybertronian Lullaby to me. My sobs subsided, but tears still fell from my eyes. I spread my arms across his chest and pressed the side of my face against it. He placed his other hand over me to keep me warm and I welcomed it gratefully.

"I was so scared, Jetfire!" I cried, remembering everything happened today.

"I know." He told me quietly.

"Thank you. For constantly reassuring me and telling me not to worry."

"Hey, it wasn't any problem." Jetfire removed a hand and placed a finger under my chin before tilting my head back so I was looking at his face. "You really shouldn't worry so much. Slag, my mother never worried as much as you do and that's saying something! Do you realize what happens when you humans stress so much? You start getting gray hair early in life at a young age and…well, it's not a pretty picture. Let's just leave it at that for now."

Despite everything that's happened today I couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"How is it that you somehow manage to cheer me up?" I asked.

"I don't know." Jetfire used his free hand to scratch the right side of his temple. "Would saying I'm special count as an answer?"

"Yeah. It does." I pressed the side of my face against his chest again and closed my eyes, sighing in relief when I didn't see Sideways behind my eyelids. "But I don't understand why I heard your voice in my head or how you managed to reassure me like you did." I looked up at him. "Do you know?"

"Not quite sure, Skydancer." He told me, shaking his head. "Wish I knew." His gold optics dimmed slightly before lighting up again. "Although it could be a connection of some sort. Probably because we're such good friends and that we understand each other so well."

"I guess so." I agreed.

I turned to look out at the sky to see it was covered with gray clouds. It seemed to match everyone's mood today. We lost a good friend and the Mini-Cons. I also felt guilt from the fact that I made a deal with someone who claimed to be worse than the devil and hell combined.

"Skydancer?" I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Jetfire call me. I shook my head before looking up at him. "What's wrong?"

"I-It's nothing." I lied.

"Oh no, kiddo! You aren't pulling that one on me this time!" He said, seeming to catch my bluff. "You either _tell_ me what's wrong right now, or we can just wait out here _until _you do!"

I lowered my head as I realized that I wouldn't have a choice but to tell Jetfire. But what if I just told him about what happened two days ago and leave out what happened today?

"Remember when you were watching the data of previous battles with the Decepticons and how you learned about Sideways?"

"Yeah. Go on."

"Well, when I was grounded two days ago I missed the bus that was going to take me back to my house. This man named Steve Wilder gave me a ride home on his motorcycle. Thing was I wasn't able to see his face since he always wore his helmet. It wasn't until today that I realized that that man was actually Sideways."

I looked up at Jetfire and watched as his optics widen in shock. That was until he narrowed them at me and I had a feeling that he was angry since I heard him quietly growling.

"You…_WHAT?_!" He yelled, seeming to be shocked and angry from what I said. Or maybe the right word to use was enraged. "You let a slaggin' Decepticon-of all things-give you a ride home? What in Primus' name were you thinking?" Jetfire suddenly jerked me upward so that I was in front of his face. "He could've kidnapped you _and _allow the Decepticons to use you against us! Or even worse, they could've _killed _you!"

I started shaking in fear and was unsure what was going to happen. Jetfire seemed to realize this since his optics widened in surprise and he brought me back down and held me close to his chest. I tried to calm myself down and shut my eyes tightly and I tensed when I felt Jetfire rubbing my back with his finger before relaxing. It was weird yet it felt nice.

"Sorry for yelling at you, Skydancer." Jetfire said quietly. "I worry about you and your well-being. You're important to me…and I don't want you ending up getting killed like my mother."

"It's okay, Jetfire. It's fine." I told him.

"It's not fine that it happened, despite the fact that nothing happened _to _you." He brought me up and I was in front of his face again. "As I stated before, you're important to me. And because you're important to me I don't want to lose you."

I felt my face heat up from what he said and looked to the side.

"W-why am I so important to you?" I asked, my face heating up some more.

"Because you're…" Jetfire trailed off before starting again. "Because you're my Skydancer. There's only one you and that makes you unique. Things wouldn't be the same without you there." He explained. "Kinda like the sun. This planet wouldn't be the same without it being there to provide light and warmth."

"I…didn't think I was that important to you." My face got warmer. Something about what he said made my heart flutter and beat faster. I didn't expect him to say those things. I looked up at him. "Could you…place me on your shoulder, Jetfire?"

Jetfire complied and brought me to his shoulder. As soon as I got there I carefully made it over to his neck before wrapping my arms around it (or in this case spreading them across his neck) in order to give him a hug. I heard him chuckle before he started carefully moving and sitting down. I found myself humming the Cybertronian Lullaby and I suddenly heard Jetfire laughing.

"You're _humming _the Cybertronian Lullaby?" He asked, sounding amused.

"You always hum it to me." I told him, my face heating up. "What's wrong with me humming it to you?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, it's just…" He seemed to be thinking of the right words to say. "It's just that I wasn't expecting you to do that, that's all."

"Oh. Okay."

I only hoped that tomorrow would bring better things to come. For the sake of both my friends and the Autobots.

* * *

ATE: And that concludes chap 9 of this story. I personally had fun writing Sideways (surprisingly) and I think I did an okay job with him. I just basically wrote him how I always viewed him as a character. So now we know what Sideways was up to in chap 7 You can definately tell there's some things going on between Jetfire and Valerie. Also, while I was on vacation this past week I wrote the first chap for a side story for this one, which will be about Jetfire's mother, Astera. I'll be putting it up sometime after I get this chap up. Anyone with ideas for any future chaps you'd like to see in this story, feel free to share and I'll give you credit.

Please remember to review! ;D


	10. Regeneration

ATE: After so long I have finally managed to finish this chap. This is the longest chapter so far in this story (at 10,501 words long). I felt nice and decided to type up a long chapter to make up for the time it took me to finish it. I wanna thank **kittygirl365**, **Crystalmaiden62**, **Diamond White**, **Mistress Megatron**, **4elementsfan4621**, **Bumblebeecamaro38**, **Crazygal217 **for their reviews on chap 9, and I wanna thank **Diamond White **again for the ideas she's given me. You've been so helpful. For this chap I covered Episodes 34 (Regeneration) and 35 (Rescue), just for those who are wondering when this chap is taking place.

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, or Monty Python. I only own my OC Valerie.

WARNING: This chap contains some violence (with some mild graphic scenes) and mentions/attempts of suicide. I'm not sure if the rating of this story should go up, but if anyone things so, then feel free to tell me.

* * *

Chapter 10: Regeneration

We all stood in the observatory room in front of the large window that had the view of the med bay. I couldn't help but be reminded of when I last stood her and had been watching Red Alert work on Optimus. But this time Smokescreen replaced the Autobot leader. Smokescreen had done everything he could to protect the Mini-Cons from the Decepticons. And now here we were, watching as the orange Autobot would fight to stay alive. We were all worried about him. I…hoped that he would live through this, smile at us all and tell everyone that it was only a flesh wound.

'_I really need to stop watching so much Monty Python._' I thought.

Multiple small device-like arms worked on his body, the medic bot being the one controlling the advanced machinery. One of the arms did something to his chest and soon I spotted a glowing orb of pale blue light, seeming to glow slightly brighter as it pulsed. I couldn't help but be reminded of a human heart when I saw it.

"Hey, what is _that_ thing?" Carlos asked.

"That's the spark." Optimus answered.

"What's the spark?" Rad asked.

"It's what keeps us Transformers alive." Scavenger answered, turning to face us.

"So, it's like your heart then?" Alexis asked.

"Yeaahh…in human _terms_, I suppose you can say that." Jetfire answered, sounding a little unsure of how to explain it.

"You mean my heart looks like _that_?" Fred asked turning to face the Autobots.

I knew he wasn't exactly the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but I didn't thinking it was _this_ bad.

"Nah, I'm guessing yours is a _lot_ smaller." Billy stated.

"Aaahh…" Fred looked over at Billy, looking like he understood. I looked at Fred like he was crazy.

So that was what the spark looked like. I remembered Jetfire telling me about it when he had been over at my house, saying that it was similar to a soul. From what I learned I saw the spark being liked the human heart and soul combined, making it very important and necessary for a Transformer to even exist. If I thought of it that way I could easily understand why people say 'the body is really the prison for the soul'. I placed my hands over my heart and closed my eyes, not expecting what would come next.

_I found myself standing in my room, causing me to become confused. Why was I here? How did I get here? I smelled something weird and I couldn't decipher what it was. It was faint, but it smelled heavy like…something was burning! I quickly went to my door and flung it open and I noticed that the smell was getting stronger. I saw that thick smoke was slowly making its way up the stairs and my eyes widened when I realized what was going on! _

_The house was on fire!_

_I quickly went downstairs in order to get out of the house and I was shocked to find more than half the first floor was on fire that was burning its way through everything it touched. I saw something on the floor sticking out from around the corner where the kitchen was and went over to it, only to have my eyes widen when I found that it was my Mom's arm and that she and Dad where on the were both lying in a pool of their blood, their eyes still open even after they were killed. Their clothes suddenly set on fire and the smell of blood, decay, and burning flesh caused me to gag. I felt nauseated from the extremely horrible and coppery scent and I clenched a hand tightly over my mouth to prevent the bile from escaping past my lips; I forced myself to swallow to get rid of it and felt sick from the horrible taste. I had to get out of here. I couldn't stay. If I did I would die from being burnt alive, crushed, or a combination of both. _

_I forced myself to run away, coughing from the smoke that filled my lungs. I managed to make it to the front door and wrenched it open before running outside. The slightly fresh air filled my lungs and I coughed a bit. But the relief I felt from finally making it outside disappeared as my face paled. All over the place I saw the bodies of my friends lying dead in the grass that was stained red. I opened my mouth to let out a scream, but instead I threw up on the ground, the scent of the bile only causing me to release more. By the time I was done I was breathing heavily, the aftertaste of the bile stuck in my mouth as my throat having a slight burning sensation. I lifted my head to look around and that was when I suddenly noticed the familiar forms of Hot Shot and Sideswipe on the ground with some sort of neon blue liquid staining the grass around them as it seemed to be leaking from their bodies. Was it their blood?_

"_Hot Shot! Sideswipe!" I called._

_But despite calling them they didn't respond. And it was then I realized that their optics were deactivated. Were they-!_

"_No! You can't be dead! You can't!" I screamed._

_Tears welled up in my eyes as the harsh truth settled in. They were dead. I started running off in a random direction, not caring were I was going. As I ran I saw that a good number of trees had been knocked down and (to my horror) the dead bodies of the Autobots scattered everywhere in the same state Hot Shot and Sideswipe were in' I started crying uncontrollably when I saw Optimus dead. But then I noticed that I didn't see Jetfire anywhere._

"_Jetfire!" I called out, hoping he would hear me. "Where are you?"_

_I felt the ground shaking slightly along with loud footsteps walking unevenly. I turned in the direction it was coming from and my eyes widened in shock when I saw Jetfire limping his way over to me slowly, his right hand holding his blaster as that arm was hanging at his side while his left hand clutching the right side of his abdomen as it was slowly leaking neon blue liquid underneath it. His body was dented in various places with some circuits that were expose (which were normally hidden) sparked slightly from whatever fight he came out of. I slowly and hesitantly took a few steps forward towards him, the tears in my eyes falling with no intention of stopping._

"_Jetfire…!" I said, shocked and scared to see him in this state.._

"_S…S-Sky…dancer…" He said weakly once he noticed I was there. I watched as Jetfire's legs seemed to give out from underneath him and he collapsed to the ground, groaning in the pain he was in. I cried out as I rushed over to him near his face. He gazed at me with his gold optics and he must've released his hold on his blaster since he placed his right hand behind my back, lightly pushing me towards his face until I was barely a foot away from his face. "S-Sky…dancer… T-thank Primus you're safe…"_

"_Jetfire!" I wrapped my arms around (or what I managed to) his face and held onto him. "W-what's going on? What happened here?"_

"_W-we tried…we tried…to protect you from _him_…" He told me. "T-the others…gave their lives to keep you safe…"_

"_I didn't asked for this!" I shut my eyes tightly as I hung my head, shaking it in disapproval. "I didn't ask for any one to die for me! Everyone's dead a-and it's because of me! I don't want you do die, Jetfire! Don't throw down your life just to protect me!"_

"_I-I can't do that Skydancer… I made a promise to you…one that I plan on keeping til the very end…"_

"_Promise?" I looked up at him, confused by what he meant. "What promise?"_

"_That's right, Jetfire. What promise?"_

_I gasped when I heard the familiar dark voice behind me and wiped my head around, only to have my eyes widen when I saw Sideways standing behind me._

"_S-Sideways…!" I heard Jetfire growl loudly behind me. _

_I turned around to face Jetfire in time to see him weakly get up from the ground and aiming is blaster at Sideways as he crouched._

"_What? Are you going to shoot me with that toy of yours?" Sideways asked, seeming amused._

"_I won't allow you to lay a servo on her, you glitching virus!" Jetfire yelled. He started shooting at Sideways rapidly, not seeming to stop as he seemed bent on offlining him. "I'll protect her until my spark is extinguished!"_

"_Jetfire, no!" I pleaded loudly, my tears falling from my eyes again. "Don't throw down you're life just to protect me! I'm not worth it!"_

_Jetfire stopped firing his blast when there was barely anything left of Sideways. But to my horror I watched as this weird cloud of black flurry particles appeared on the places where Sideways was shot at and seemed to regenerate his body, looking as if he was never shot at in the first place. He chuckled darkly and sinisterly, causing me to shake in fear from the tone._

"_Now it's my turn." He said darkly._

_All of a sudden I heard the sound of metal groaning and Jetfire screaming out in pain. I turned around and my eyes widened as I watched Jetfire's arms and wings seemed to bend the wrong way unnaturally from some unseen force, all the while his circuits sparking like crazy as his arms and wings started having that neon blue liquid fly everywhere. The metal on his chest seemed to cave in on itself (reminding me of someone crushing a soda can with their hands) and he let out a ear-piercing, blood-curdling scream that expressed the intense pain he was feeling before his spark suddenly burst out of his chest as if some invisible hand ripped it out of the spark chamber that held it. I screamed, watching as Jetfire's gold optics deactivated and his body fell lifeless to the ground with a loud _thump_! I watched as his spark faded away like spreading smoke and that was when I broke down. I suddenly felt a stabbing pain in my heart and fell to my hands and knees, gasping as I clutched a hand desperately over it, but nothing seemed to make the pain go away. It was painful, like my heart was being ripped in half and like I lost a part of myself. I couldn't stop crying!_

_**{How tragic.} **__I heard Sideways say as I heard him approaching. __**{That pathetic Autobot sacrificed his life to protect you and paid the ultimate price for it.} **__I suddenly felt a hand roughly grab my arm and jerked me into standing up. I saw that Sideways had shrunken down to the side of a human like before. __**{I bet you're wondering why your fleshy human heart is in so much pain. If only you knew the truth.}**_

"_Why?" I cried, feeling pathetic and weak. "Why all of this?" _

_**{To show you consequences.} **__He replied simply. He placed his free hand under my chin, grabbing it as he forced me to look at Jetfire's dead body. He knew just looking at the Autobot's body was painful for me and merely chuckled.__** {This is one of the many outcomes that will happen if you don't fulfill your end of our deal. What you see is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what I'm capable of doing. I can do even worse than this, sweet Valerie. So worse that it would make your nightmares seem like peaceful dreams.}**_

"Errggghh…" I suddenly heard the loud sound of metal hitting metal, snapping me out of my thoughts and whipped around to see that Hot Shot had slammed his fist together. He looked extremely pissed about something. "Man! Megatron's gonna _pay_ for what he did to Smokescreen! C'mon, Sideswipe. Let's go get 'im."

Hot Shot started walking away towards the door that lead into the hallway.

"Uhhh... Sure." Sideswipe replied. "Where?" He added, realizing that he had no idea where the yellow Autobot was going.

I looked around at my friends, a little relieved that they were alive. But then I remembered seeing their dead bodies all around me and felt terrified. Even if it was just something Sideways made me see in my mind's eyes, it all felt so _real_. I even thought that it was actually happening! I tried so hard, but I couldn't make myself forget the way Jetfire died and the sound of his scream. I couldn't get it out of my head!

"Skydancer?" I looked up at Jetfire and saw that he was gazing at me with his gold optics. "Are you okay?"

"I'm…" I sighed, suddenly feeling sad. "I'm fine, Jetfire." I finished, my voice sounding hollow.

Everyone seemed surprised by how I responded to Jetfire's question.

"Valerie?" I heard Alexis ask, sounding concerned.

I walked out of the room and down the hallway as I made my way outside. I couldn't stay in that room any longer; if I did then everyone would've started asking questions. I'm not sure how long I could handle the fact of what I got myself into yesterday when I made that deal with Sideways, but I knew it wouldn't last. Not with the guilt I felt, along with what _he _showed me a few minutes ago. I suddenly felt worry and concern invade my mind, but I forced myself to push it back. It kept persisting and I kept pushing it away. I mentally thought of a wall in my mind in hopes that it would block the feeling.

_**{Skydancer, why did you leave?}**_

I ignored his voice, continuing to walk.

_**{Where are you going?} **_

"Outside."

_**{Why? What's wrong?}**_

I was starting to feel a little frustrated. As he was talking to me I could _feel _the worry and concern trying to get inside my head. He was trying to distract me by drawing my attention to talk to him while he tried to push past the mental wall I put up. But the fact that he wouldn't stop or give up was starting to irritate me. As much as I hated to do this to him and how horrible it'd make me feel afterwards, I had to do what I was about to do next, no matter how hard it was going to be.

"Leave me alone, Jetfire!" I snapped, regretting every word that escaped my lips, but I couldn't let that stop me. "I don't want to talk right now! I just-" I shook my head. "I just need some time to think!"

The worry and concern I felt seemed to stop as hesitance joined the other emotions trying to invade my mind. They seemed to slowly disappear from my mind before they were gone. I finally went through the doorway leading outside and saw that the sky was blue. I sat down on the ground.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire was shocked as he felt the faint feeling of Valerie's presence whenever they talked telepathically disappear from their connection. The connection between them, he figured, was more or less similar to a bridge that connected them. It was when they would talk telepathically that it would've been like they were meeting halfway on the bridge in order to talk to each other face to face. In the metaphorical sense, of course.

But what Jetfire didn't understand was why she was pushing him away like this; it wasn't like her to act the way she did. Yesterday Valerie had been her usual self, but now she was different. What could have happened that caused her to change so unexpectedly? Did something happen after she left the base that had her acting like she was? Jetfire knew that this wasn't like the last time after she had been on her first mission (and had beaten herself up over the fact that Optimus got hurt protecting her). He knew without a doubt that this was something entirely different. But _why_?

'_It doesn't help that she blocked me from getting in her head._' He thought. His spark felt heavy from the fact that she pushed him away. '_Skydancer…_'

"Jetfire."

The shuttle mech shook his head to clear his thoughts before turning to look at his leader.

"Yes, Optimus?" He replied.

"Can I have a word with you? _Alone_?" Optimus asked.

"Sure thing."

Jetfire was confused as he followed Optimus out of the room, making their way down the hallways in the direction of the Autobot leader's office. He wondered what it was that he wanted to discuss to him, especially if it was in private. He went through his CPU to see if he could figure out what could possibly be the topic of discussion. Jetfire felt his spark skip a pulse as he realized something.

'_Did he find out that I snuck out of the base to see Valerie a few days ago?_' He thought, suddenly feeling anxious. '_If that's the case, then I'm in _deep _slag._'

Both mechs came up to the door leading into Optimus' offices sooner than Jetfire would have wanted, and as he watched his leader sit behind his desk silence set in. A tense silence that had him dreading whatever words were going to come out of Optimus' mouth.

"Jetfire, why do you think I wanted to talk to you?" He asked.

"To be honest I don't know." Jetfire replied.

"I wanted to discuss something that occurred yesterday. And before you ask, you're not in trouble."

Jetfire sighed in relief, but it was short lived when he realized that he was referring to something that happened yesterday.

"What about yesterday?"

Optimus was quiet and he knew that he was thinking. He lifted his head up to look at the shuttle mech with his gold optics.

"You _are_ aware of what happens whenever we powerlink in battle."

"Yeah, we become one!" Jetfire answered as if it was common knowledge.

"And that also means that we share the same thoughts in order to make it easier to cooperate with each other." Optimus explained. "It was when we powerlinked yesterday that I felt emotions that I knew weren't yours, along with hearing Valerie's voice." Jetfire was shocked that Optimus knew about _that_ and went quiet. He seemed to realize this since he heard him sigh. "Jetfire, you know something, don't you?"

"Yes." He managed to say, his voice serious. "But what I'm about to tell you is something I don't want you telling anyone else. As in whatever is said in this office _stays _in this office."

"Go on." Optimus nodded his head.

'_This is it._' Jetfire told himself. '_There's no backing down._'

"…Valerie's my sparkmate."

"What?" Optimus was surprised by this news. "Jetfire, you know what this means."

"Of course I know what it means!" Jetfire voice rose as he slammed his fist into the wall that was closest to him in his frustration, causing it to dent from the impact. "I've known ever since I first laid my optics on her! I'm aware that she's _human _and because of that she could be targeted by the Decepticons if they ever find out!" He felt his fist start to shake as he tried to hold back his anger and the fact that he realized how telling Optimus this could change everything now between Valerie and him. "You have no idea how important she truly is to me. Ever since the day my mother was offlined I've treated this war like it were a game for me. I originally wouldn't have cared if I were offlined since I had nothing to lose. But now that I've found Valerie to be my sparkmate I _have _a reason to fight _and _live! The engagement connection has already been established between us! You've got to _understand_, Optimus!"

"I understand, Jetfire. You've made some valid points about what this _could _mean, but none of them were what I was implying."

Jetfire stared at Optimus with wide optics. He must've looked like a 'deer staring into the headlights', as the humans would say.

"It…wasn't?" Jetfire asked, feeling completely confused and surprise.

"Correct. What I was _trying _to imply was that you have to tell her." Now Jetfire felt like an idiot for blowing up in Optimus' face. "The fact that you've already established the engagement connection with her is even more reason to tell her."

"I-I know have to tell her! It's just…" Jetfire trailed off, unsure how to tell Optimus what he wanted. He was never afraid to speak his mind and even tell his leader he was wrong to his face if he ever thought so. But here he was, afraid of telling him what _he _thought for once.

"Alexis recently told me that Valerie is having a performance tomorrow night." Optimus told him. "Red Alert has finally finish the project he's been working on as well."

At this Jetfire's optics widened in surprise.

"You mean Red Alert has finally managed to finish _it_?" Jetfire asked.

"Yes. I asked him to get as much work done on it as possible." Optimus stood up from his chair and came to stand in front of his Vice Commander before placing a servo on his shoulder. "I know how important this is to you, but you have to realize how this is affecting Valerie. She's scared and confused because she doesn't have a clue what's going on or why it's happening. So tomorrow night you will tell her the truth."

Jetfire was surprised that his leader was encouraging him to do this, but then he smiled behind his face mask.

"Yes sir!" He said.

"Good. I won't tell anyone about this." Optimus said. "I think you should check up on her and see how she's doing. With the way she acted earlier I have a feeling something's troubling her."

"You think so too. Don't worry. I was actually going to check up on her after this anyways."

With that Optimus allowed Jetfire to leave and the shuttle mech headed directly to his next destination: outside.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I stared off at the sky, but instead of helping me clear my head the vision that Sideways made me see kept coming back, along with the fear, dread, and guilt I felt from when I made the deal with him. I had a feeling that he wouldn't let me forget what happened no matter how much I wanted to and was constantly reminding me. I didn't like this at all. Was this heavy feeling I felt the same one that a lot of fictional characters in fantasy books had when they had the weight of the world on their shoulders? I wasn't sure, but it felt like it. I sighed. I couldn't let the others know of this. If I did, would I be called a traitor? But what would I do if they found out?

"I don't think I would be able to handle it…" I said to myself.

"Handle what?"

I jumped slightly before whipping around to find Jetfire standing behind me. I quickly recovered, frowning as I knew what I had to do. I couldn't let him know what was really wrong and had to act distant (as much as I hated doing this to my friends).

"What do you want, Jetfire?" I asked, instantly hating how hollow my voice sounded. If I didn't know better I would've thought my voice belonged to someone else.

"I don't always have to have a reason to be around, but if you must know I'm trying to help a friend who as of late has been acting _unusually _stubborn, distant, and has been pushing her _friends_ away." He told me. I knew he meant me and I didn't miss the emphasis on the words 'unusually' and 'friends'.

I quietly laughed humorlessly.

"Some friend she is." I said cynically, turning around to look back at the sky. "You sound like you know her really well."

"I do. But what I _don't _know is why she's pushing her friends away when they could help her. She didn't even _explain_ or give us a _reason_ for why she's acting like she is. If you ask me, I think she's using it as a cover in order to hide what's _really _troubling her."

My breath got caught in my throat and I tensed up. How did he know that I was acting like I was as a cover up? Thinking fast I got up as I decided to go back inside. I had to get away before Jetfire started asking questions.

"As interesting as this discussion is I think I'm going to go back inside." I said, as I was about to walk past him. "See you later, Jetfire."

"Oh no you don't!" Suddenly Jetfire snatched me up in his hand, successfully preventing me from getting away as he lifted me up so that I was in front of his face. "I don't know _why _you're acting like this, Valerie, but I want answers! And I'm not letting you leave _until _you do!"

"Let me go!" I told him, forcing myself to be mean.

"I don't think you heard me correctly, so let me repeat myself. You're not leaving until you tell me why you're acting like _this_! So you might as well start talking!"

"There's nothing wrong. You're overreacting."

"Wrong answer. I may not be a lie detector, but I know you're not telling me the truth. So why don't you just make things easier by just _telling _me?"

"You can't handle the truth!" As cheesy as it sounded, it was still true.

"_Try_ me." Jetfire growled menacingly, his voice sounding dark that I had barely managed to suppress the shiver that went down my spine. It reminded me too much of Sideways. He narrowed his gold optics as he brought his face closer to the point that I would've been able to just reach out and place my hand on his face mask.

"You really want to know what's wrong and why I'm acting like _this_?" I shouted, finally fed up with him being persistent. "It's because Sideways somehow managed to invade my mind and forced me into a deal that I literally had no say in it whatsoever yesterday! And despite everything I do to _try _and forget about it, it just seems to come back and haunt me!"

My eyes widened when I realized that I told him the one thing I was trying to hide from everyone and clamped my hands over my mouth in shock. Jetfire seemed just as shocked by the news I just shared with him since his optics were wide. The grip his hand had around my body loosened to the point that I could just pull myself out with ease and took the chance to get away. I was surprised at how quickly I managed to climb to the ground and I ran inside.

'_He's going to tell everyone now!_' I thought, feeling tears start to form in my eyes as I ran to the rec room. '_I can't continue like this! I have to end it!_'

Before I knew it I found myself running into an empty rec room and made a bee line into the small kitchen, rummaging through the drawers for what I was looking for. I didn't have to look long and I pulled it out, my reflection looking back at me on the sharp blade. I felt my tears fall from my eyes as I realized what it was I was going to do next as I slowly made my way over to a table that happened to have post it notes and a pen. Uncapping the pen, I quickly wrote on a post it note my last message to everyone.

_I'm sorry. I didn't mean to betray anyone._

_Valerie_

More tears fell as I read the words over in my head. I held the knife in my right hand as I lightly pressed the blade to my wrist. I gulped as I contemplated whether or not I should kill myself. It was so hard that I was having second thoughts about it.

'_It's either this or be branded a traitor for the rest of my life._' I told myself as I continued to cry.

I hissed in pain and I suddenly realized that I had accidentally pressed the blade on the side of my wrist near my thumb instead of the vein I had been aiming for. Some blood oozed from it, but I could honestly say it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the cut I got on my arm a week ago. The pain made me realize that this wasn't right. But it was the only way…

"Valerie!"

My head shot up in the direction the voice came from just in time to see Jetfire running towards me. He suddenly scooped me up in his hand and I dropped the knife, which hit the floor with a clatter. I was too shocked to do anything or protest and just stared off into space, tears forming in my eyes as I realized, in my guilt, what I had been so close to doing. I almost committed suicide. I hung my head as I started crying. I was so stupid! I hadn't even thought of what could happen if I had killed myself. I didn't think of all the people that would've been sad. And the worst thing of all, I didn't think of how it would affect Jetfire, especially after he told me about Astera.

"Why, Valerie? Why would you try to offline yourself like this?" He asked me, bringing me close to his chest where his spark was. "All this just because of that twisted fragger."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I said, feeling guilty.

I felt Jetfire moving around and I lifted my head up slightly to find him sitting down on a large transformer sized chair. I heard him sigh.

"What was this deal that Sideways forced you into?"

"He didn't say. All he told me was that I had to wait until the time came to serve my purpose. He said that if I refused everything I cared about would be destroyed."

"And earlier? Was that why you wanted to be left alone?" I shook my head. "Then why?"

"He reminded me of the deal when he showed me a vision today of one of the many things he'd do if I didn't complete my part of it. It was like I was actually there and it felt so real."

"What happened?"

"I was inside my room and I smelled something burning. It turned out that my house was on fire…a-and Mom and Dad were dead and were being burned. I went outside and I found Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred dead in my front yard, along with Hot Shot and Sideswipe being dead with this neon blue liquid leaking from them. It was like blood or something…"

"That's because it was. The neon blue liquid you saw was energon, our lifeblood." His voice was quiet. "I know this is hard for you, but please tell me what happened next."

"I-I ran…just like that. I saw that everyone else was dead as I ran, but I didn't see you anywhere. And then I saw you limping into the clearing I was in. You were so badly damaged…and you were holding your side to stop energon from leaking out of your side. You were making your way over to me when you collapsed and you told me that you were glad I was safe." I left out the details that would've normally made my face heat up, but it didn't at the moment. "You said that everyone died trying to protect me, but I told you that I didn't want anyone dying because of me. Then you said something about a promise you made to me but then Sideways appeared. You tried to protect me from him, saying that you'd protect me until your spark was extinguished. A-and then he killed you in the most horrifying way…" I felt tears fall from my eyes as I remembered everything so vividly. "Your body was literally bent and crushed and there was so much energon. Your spark was ripped out of your body…and it just faded away. I can't forget the way you screamed. I can still hear it. My heart was in so much pain, like it was being ripped in half, and I felt like I lost a part of myself…"

I couldn't stop myself from crying uncontrollably. I didn't think it would be this hard to tell anyone about the vision I had, but it didn't help that I could remember it as if it were happening right in front of me. The hand Jetfire held me in started moving upward, but I didn't really pay too much attention to it. Suddenly I felt something lightly nuzzling the crook of my neck and I lifted my head up to find that Jetfire was nuzzling me with his face mask; his optic were dimmed and realized that he was holding me with both hands. My face heated up in surprise since he had never done this before. It was almost intimate, but strangely enough I didn't mind.

"Shh… It's okay, Skydancer." Jetfire said quietly in a soothing tone. I felt his face mask slightly vibrate as he spoke and it tickled a little.

Jetfire started humming the Cybertronian Lullaby to me like he always did whenever I was like this. As I listened to the calming song I felt myself relax a bit and eventually I managed to stop crying. I closed my eyes as I imaged Astera singing the lullaby to Jetfire when he was just a sparkling. It wasn't hard since I knew what his mother looked like in the picture he showed me yesterday.

"Please…don't tell anyone about this…" I begged after I had calmed down a bit.

"I won't. I promise." His optics lit up and he gazed at me. I suddenly felt something; it was similar to the reassurance he sent me yesterday, but it was warm, caring, and…affectionate? Something about it made my stomach do flips. "I think it's time I took you flying."

My eyes widened in surprise, and everything that happened to me and the horrible vision all seemed to not matter anymore. I smiled a small smile before spreading my arms across his face mask.

"Thank you, Jetfire." I said.

"It's nothing." I giggled quietly from the vibration that came through his face mask. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because your face mask vibrates whenever you talk. It tickles."

"It tickles, huh?" He chuckled, and I had a feeling that if I could see his mouth he'd probably be smirking. "I should remember that for _future _reference."

I pulled my arms away from Jetfire's face mask as he stood up to leave and I found that I missed him nuzzling me as he pulled his head away. As we left the rec room to go outside I couldn't help but think of the first conversation I had with him after I met the Autobots. It's funny how he was the first one to really get to know me, but I was glad it was him. And now here he was, taking me flying. I felt the breeze on my face and I realized that we were outside the base.

"I hope you're ready to fly." Jetfire said, still holding me close to him.

"I am." I told him.

"Are you nervous?"

"A little. More than anything I'm scared of falling."

"Don't worry! I'll always be there to catch you when you fall."

Before I could register what he said Jetfire suddenly flew off into the sky, still in his robot form. I thought he would've transformed into a space shuttle before doing this and on reflex I squeezed my eyes shut. I could feel the wind whipping my hair around as he continued to flying through the sky.

"Skydancer, open your eyes." Jetfire told me. "Take a look."

Hesitantly I opened my eyes and I was surprised at how high up we were. Jetfire didn't go so high because the altitude would've affected me, but we were high enough so that anyone looking at the sky couldn't tell what they saw. This was so much different than flying in a plane. Whereas you were sitting inside the plane while flying, I was experiencing something that a human would hardly get the chance to. You could actually feel the wind and there wasn't a window blocking me from the sky. No words could describe what I was feeling.

"This is so amazing." I said. "Is this what it's like whenever you're flying?"

"Sure is!" He laughed, flying around a bit. "I could do this many times and I wouldn't grow bored."

I continued looking out at everything and suddenly I felt sad.

"I finally accomplished my dream to fly." I couldn't hide the sadness in my voice.

"Skydancer." Jetfire started, carefully turning me around to face him. "Just because you accomplished your dream to fly doesn't mean you stop dreaming. There will always be dreams to accomplish, you just haven't realized what they are yet."

"What about you? What are your dreams?"

Jetfire was quiet and I assumed he was thinking before he answered.

"My dreams are to find the one that was meant to become my sparkmate."

"You mean you can't choose who you want to be sparkmates with?"

"For us, you could say that our sparkmates are predetermined by Primus himself. We can't choose just anyone to be sparkmates. And you know when you've found them when you see each other for the first time. It's kinda like what you humans call 'soul mates'."

I was surprised by his explanation. I didn't know it would be that meaningful for a transformer to find their sparkmate. The way he said it made it sound so important and my stomach seemed to do flips.

"How long does it take to find one's sparkmate?"

"It depends. It could take as long as long as a million years and you wouldn't have found them yet. In cases like that it's usually because the significant other hasn't been created yet."

I felt a little chest fallen. It was hard to believe that a transformer would likely have to wait over a million years just to find their sparkmate. But then I couldn't help but wonder, had Jetfire found his sparkmate or would he have to continue searching for years until he did.

"There was a reason why I brought you here." I looked up at Jetfire when he spoke. "There's something I want to tell you, but I can't say what it is until tomorrow night."

I was suddenly curious about what he was talking about, but then I remembered something.

"But I have a performance tomorrow night." I told him.

"That's okay. I can always tell you afterwards." I had a feeling that if I could see his mouth that he would be smiling. "I think it's time we've got back."

"Okay."

I felt a little disappointed that we had to head back, but I knew that we would have to got back eventually. I kept my eyes opened as I watched Jetfire fly back to the base and I had wished I hadn't kept they closed when we first took off.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire and I had gotten back to the base that we went to the command center where we found everyone. It was just after the Vice Commander placed me on the floor when I suddenly found myself being hugged by a worried Alexis (who immediately asked if I was okay). I was grateful that Jetfire kept his word and didn't tell anyone about what I told him or that I tried to commit suicide, and because of that something inside me felt something I couldn't explain.

Suddenly the alarm went off, taking all of us by surprise. Jetfire went over to the monitor and we saw that one of the screens showed a jet fleeing from something big that was shooting at it.

"That's strange…" Jetfire mused quietly.

It was quiet and I think I could feel the tension in the air. On another screen I could see Hot Shot and Sideswipe leaving the base.

"What is it, Jetfire?" Optimus asked, breaking the silence.

"Hot Shot and Sideswipe have headed out on their own." The shuttle mech looked at Optimus. The monitor showed that the two young Autobots were heading in the direction of the two objects that were flowing around in the sky. "I dunno why they'd do something like that."

"Hot Shot wants to get revenge." Scavenger stated, as if it were obvious.

"Yeah! Go get 'em!" Carlos cheered.

"Yeah, it's payback time for Smokescreen!" Billy said.

"And _freedoooommmm_!" Fred…exclaimed? What the hell did freedom have to do with avenging Smokescreen?

"We should get out there, Optimus." Blurr urged.

"No." Optimus said. "Wait a minute. _Look_ at the monitor."

We all looked at the monitor and my eyes widened in surprised at what, or _who _I saw.

"It's a chase. And that's Starscream." Alexis said, sounding surprised.

"It doesn't _look_ like a decoy strategy, either." Scavenger noted.

"Hmmm…" Optimus seemed to be thinking, but after awhile he spoke. "Let's head out, Jetfire."

"Roger!" Jetfire replied.

"But what if it's a trick?" Blurr asked.

"Trick or not, we still have to help. And if we're lucky we might have a potential ally."

With that Optimus and Jetfire left. I turned back to look at the monitor to see Hot Shot was up against Tidal Wave as Sideswipe chased after Starscream. The yellow Autobot combined with Jolt and fired at the giant Decepticon, but it didn't seem to work. After awhile I spotted Optimus and Jetfire making their way towards the battle and combined into Jet Optimus. Tidal Wave turned and started firing at them, but then Optimus fired back with his blaster. Suddenly Starscream threw the Star Saber at Optimus, which just hovered in the air in front of him before he took it. He managed to cut something off of Tidal Wave and was about to deliver the finishing blow when the Decepticon retreated.

_(Later)_

Optimus, Jetfire, Hot Shot, and Sideswipe arrived back at the base with Starscream. As the Decepticon explained what happened to all of us I noticed that Alexis was staring at Starscream and never took her eyes off him. And I thought I saw something flash in her eyes before it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"You mean, Megatron actually abandoned you and tried to destroy you?" Scavenger asked.

"It's true." Starscream answered.

"Yeah, right." Hot Shot scoffed. "You can't actually believe this guy. He's a Decepticon, _remember_? C'mon!"

"Quiet, Hot Shot!" Scavenger ordered as he turned to face the yellow Autobot.

"Have you forgotten that Megatron'll use _any_ dirty trick he can to defeat us?"

"Anyone figured out what to do with this guy yet?" Sideswiped asked.

"He risked his life to get away from the Decepticons." Scavenger stated, his arms crossed. "It wouldn't be fair to send him back there."

"We have no choice. We'll have to protect him, then." Blurr said in a tone that said 'it's final.'

"Wait a minute! What do you mean, '_protect him_?'" Hot Shot yelled in protest at Blurr. "It's because of creeps like _him_, Smokescreen's in the shape he's in now! He doesn't deserve any special treatment from us." He turned to face everyone else. "We should get rid of him _right now_!"

"I understand how you feel, Hot Shot. I'll never _forget_ what the Decepticons have done to our friend Smokescreen." Jetfire said calmly. I had a feeling that he was reminded of Astera as well, but he didn't show it. "But Starscream's situation is _different_. He was double-crossed by Megatron and he almost paid the ultimate price because of it."

Starscream sighed quietly. I glanced at Alexis and saw that she seemed to pity him.

"I still don't trust this guy. Let's not forget Starscream betrayed the other Decepticons, too." Hot Shot stated. "He's no better than Megatron. And it's only a matter of time before he pulls one of his dirty tricks on us!"

"Yeah!" Sideswipe agreed.

"Remember _Sideways_?"

I felt my face pale at the mention of Sideways and I was afraid.

_**{It's okay, Skydancer…} **_Jetfire's voice said in my head, accompanied by the reassurance he sent me. I eventually relaxed.

"Don't lump me together with him. We're _not_ the same." Starscream growled.

"I can just _imagine_ what you think of me." Scavenger said sarcastically.

"Uh... well, you're different, Scavenger. You're just different." Hot Shot said, unsure of what to tell the older mech.

The Mini-Cons seemed to be talking to each other as they bleeped.

"All right, then. Let's go." Starscream started walking away, seemly defeated. On of the Mini-Cons turned to us, waving his arms in the air as he bleeped angrily at us.

"Where are you going?" Blurr asked.

Starscream stopped short of the exit.

"If none of you are going to _trust me_, then there's no point in hanging around here... I guess I'll just have to go and fight _Megatron_ on my own." He said Megatron's name like it were poison.

"You don't have to _leave_." Alexis suddenly said. I saw the determination in her green eyes. "I think I can trust you, Starscream."

"Huh?" Carlos turned to Alexis.

"Yeah, me too." Rad agreed. "Look how upset Runway is over this whole thing. I think the Mini-Cons would _never_ normally act like that."

"What do you think we should _do_, Optimus?" Jetfire asked, facing his leader.

It was quiet. I turned back to Starscream and was surprised to see that the Mini-Cons that were with him were latching onto his legs as if to stop him from leaving the base, all the while the Decepticon tried to gently shake them off. It was quite comical and I would've laughed if it weren't for the situation.

"All right! From now on, we consider Starscream part of _our_ team." Optimus announced.

"Aw, you can't be _serious_!" Hot Shot protested, clenching his fists. "Aww…"

"I won't let any of you down, I promise. And I think I have something to offer that might be of interest." Starscream said, turning to face us. "It has something to do with the Decepticon base. Analyze my data, and you'll be able to sneak into the Decepticons' camp."

"Yeah, yeah." Hot Shot said this in a dismissive tone.

"All right then. Let's get to _work _on that data." Jetfire said.

"I'd like to help out too." Sideswipe offered. "I may not be the strongest fighter, but I _do_ know a little bit about codes and how to break 'em. So whaddya say?"

"Sure, we could _really_ use skills like that." Jetfire seemed excited for the extra help.

"Sideswipe, not _you_ too." Hot Shot ran off.

"What's wrong?" Sideswipe seemed confused.

"I'm not finished with you _yet_, Starscream." I heard Hot Shot say quietly before walking past him.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"This is _hard_ work." Jetfire said as he and Optimus stood behind Sideswipe, who was working at the monitor. "So far we've only been able to analyze about 20% of Starscream's data."

"Well, these codes are all new to me, but I'm doing the best I can to decipher them." Sideswipe told them.

Suddenly Jolt and Runway came flying in bleeping urgently.

"What's the matter, Runway? I thought you were helping Starscream repair his damages." Optimus said.

Jolt and Runway transformed and started bleeping. Highwire bleeped from behind Rad.

"Huh?" Rad seemed confused. "_What_?" Rad shouted in disbelief and shock as he quickly turned to face Highwire so fast that I was surprised he didn't have whiplash. "Hot Shot and Starscream are fighting _right now_?"

"Hot Shot should _learn_ how to cool off." Blurr said.

"I was wondering why we hadn't seen him _around _for a while." Jetfire mused.

"Hey, I bet _I_ know what he's doing." Sideswipe said.

"Why are we just _standing_ here?" Alexis asked, sounding irritated. "We have to do something."

"Well maybe we should just _let_ them _work_ it out." Jetfire suggested.

"It'll be hard to stop _my_ bro." Sideswipe stated.

"Maybe Hot Shot will listen to _you_, Sideswipe."

"Of course _he_ will, but I'm not a referee."

Jetfire and Sideswipe started arguing with each other and it was hard to hear what they were saying. It almost sounded like Jetfire was saying, 'Yeah, you sure don't have much of a pay wondering right here!'

"Well if _somebody_ doesn't do _something_, then _I_ will." Alexis said loudly in order to be heard, which was why it was hard for me to understand what Jetfire was saying.

"Ah…! No, no, Alexis. There's no _need_ for that. _We'll_ go." Jetfire said in defeat. It was like he was agreeing with her in order to avoid something bad from happening. He turned towards the exit, only to be blocked by Red Alert. "Huh?"

"Red Alert... How's Smokescreen doing?" Optimus asked.

"He's okay." Red Alert answered. "But I wasn't able to regenerate his normal body, Optimus."

"Huh?"

Suddenly a white transformer with slightly familiar feature and even more familiar orange optics walked into the room. My eyes were wide in shock and I could hear everyone gasp in surprise.

"…Z…z-zombie…" I squeaked.

And then I fainted.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

My head felt a little fuzzy as consciousness started returning to me. I was faintly aware of something stroking the side of my face before I cracked my eyes open. I was surprised to see Jetfire seeming to be kneeling down next to the side of whatever I was lying on, his left arm laying down on the surface as he placed his chin on it as if he were using it as a pillow of sort. I realized that it was the index finger on his right hand that was stroking the side of my face and I turned my head to look at him. I also realized that I had a bit of a headache.

"Jetfire?" I asked quietly. "What happened?"

"You fainted when Smokescreen appeared." Jetfire told me, his voice quiet as if he was aware I had a headache. "Well, he calls himself Hoist now, so I'm not sure if his original name is still valid."

"Why does this feel familiar?"

Jetfire chuckled quietly.

"Probably because this is the second time you've woken up to find me by your side. You hit your head after you fainted so Red Alert told me to give you these when you woke up."

Jetfire lifted his head up from his left arm and he held his left hand out and uncurled his fingers to reveal a bottled water and a small bottle of Advil. I was grateful for the fact that I would have some form of pain relief from the headache and took them from him. Opening the bottle of Advil, I shook it until I had four pellets before uncapping the water bottle and downing the pills. As soon as I swallowed the pills I twisted the cap back on before putting the bottle to the side.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Anyways, we managed to finish analyzing the data Starscream gave us and we'll be leaving for the Decepticons' base."

"Already?"

"Yeah." Jetfire nodded before standing up. He went over somewhere before coming back with what looked like a blanket, which he covered me up with. "You can recharge in here while I'm away."

"'Here'?" I asked, feeling confused.

"'Here' being my room."

Jetfire starting making his way to the door leading out of his room.

"Jetfire?"

"Hmm?" He stopped in front of the closed door, but didn't turn to face me.

"Please be careful."

Jetfire was quiet for awhile before he spoke. "…I will, Skydancer."

And with that he left, leaving me in his room. I looked at what I was laying on and realized it was his berth. I pulled the blanket around me tighter to get warm before drifting off the sleep.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_I was along as I stood in a place of black nothingness. But it didn't last long with I heard a familiar dark chuckle come from behind me. _

_**{Why do you persist on trying to forget our deal?} **__I suddenly felt him snake one arm around my waist for behind, while the other one came around my neck until his human sized hand caressed my cheek that was on the opposite side of where his hand came from. I felt my body go rigid as he pulled me into close to him and I felt extremely uncomfortable with what he was doing. My throat tightened in fear of what he could possibly do to me. __**{You know that he's only going to tell the others about what you did.} **__Sideways whispered in my ear, his voice sounding sickly sweet._

"_He won't." I managed to get out. "He promised he wouldn't tell anyone."_

_**{Sweet Valerie. Don't you know talk is cheap? Anyone can make a promise, only to break it in the end. He's no different.}**_

"_Then why would he stop me from killing myself…when he could've just stood back and watch?"_

_**{Because he wanted you to continue to suffer. All those **_**nice **_**things he's done for you were fake. Everything he's told you were lies.}**_

_As I listened to Sideways' words a part of me started to doubt what I believed. Was he right? Would Jetfire really lie to me? He was confusing me. I wasn't sure what I believed anymore. A part of me hurt at the thought that Jetfire could've been lying to me this whole time. But another part was me was trying to cling desperately to the thought that he really did care about me._

"_You're lying…" I whispered, my breath shaky as I felt a few tears start to stream down my face. Slowly my resolve seemed to crumble bit by painful bit, and I wasn't sure how long I could hold on to what I had believed._

_**{Am I?}**__ He asked rhetorically. Sideways managed to turn me around so that I was facing him, but he never let me go. I tried so hard not to look at his face and into those pink optics of his, but something stopped me from looking away and I was forced to look at him. Whereas Jetfire's gold optics were warm and always made me feel a sense of security, Sideways' pink optics made me feel cold inside with no hope of ever being warm again. I tensed up when he placed his hand back on my cheek to caress it and I was suddenly reminded of how similar he was to the devil. __**{He doesn't care about you. But I do. Just as a flower wilts, so will you if you continue to believe the Autobots. I can stop you from wilting. All you have to do is follow me.}**_

_**{LIES!} **__A feminine sounding voice shouted in an accusing tone. _

_Before I knew it I found myself on the floor and upon lifting my head I saw that I was away from Sideways, who was merely gazing at the glowing ball of pale blue light that came between us. I instantly recognized it to be a spark, but whose I didn't know._

_**{Nothing but lies escape your mouth, you fiend!} **__She said, at least I assumed it was a she by her voice.__** {Away from this child! Away!}**_

_Sideways merely chuckled sinisterly. _

_**{Just because you managed to intervene doesn't mean I won't ever come back. I will always return.}**_

_With that Sideways faded away and I was left alone with the spark that was slowly floating over to where I was. I lifted myself up so that I was sitting and as I continued staring at it I was suddenly filled with a warmth, the feeling of safety and calmness._

_**{Are you okay, little one?} **__She asked me. Her voice was so kind and sweet sounding that it was hard for me to believe that she had been angry not so long ago. If I hadn't known better I would've thought that she wasn't capable of being angry._

"_I-I am…" I said quietly, mesmerized by the spark in front of me. "Are you a Cybertronian angel or something?"_

_I heard her laugh that made me feel warm inside. It was a beautiful sound that reminded me of music._

_**{I am no angel, but I am a Cybertronian.} **__I watched as the spark changed shape to resemble the form of a femme, but human size. I couldn't make out her features because of the light so I was only able to see the outline of her body __**{Do you know who I am?}**_

"_I'm sorry, but I don't." I was so confused. The way she said it made me feel like I should've known who she was._

_**{It's fine. My son only mentioned me to you a few times.}**_

_My eyes widened from what she said and I finally realized who she was._

"_A-are you…Astera?" I asked._

_**{I am.} **__She answered. The light from her body dimmed to a bearable lighting, but enough to make her body look ethereal. And I instantly saw that she was indeed Astera and I was surprised at how much she looked like she did in the picture Jetfire showed me. If I had thought she was beautiful in the picture, then she was downright breathtaking in person (along with the light outlining her body adding to the beauty). Her violet colored optics gazed at me in such a loving, motherly way that made me shed a tear at the tenderness that I could never imagine the extent of. To say I was in awe would be an understatement. __**{I have been watching from the Well of All Sparks **__**for some time now. I have watched as my little Jetfire coped with my death 70,000 years ago, but that changed when you came along. I hadn't seen him this happy since he came home on leave, but even that doesn't come close to how happy he truly is.}**_

"_You mean…I'm the reason for his happiness?" I was extremely surprised by this news. It was like coming home from school to find that your mom had baked your favorite kind of cookies, but 10 times stronger._

_**{Yes. I'm so glad he found you when he did.} **__I was confused by what she meant, but that thought fled my mind when she knelt down in front of me and I could see the kindness on her face. __**{I remember when Jetfire was a youngling. He told me that he dreamed of a human femme with your features. I highly doubt he remembers it now.}**__ I was surprised when Astera suddenly pulled me close to her in a motherly embrace. It was so much different from my Mom hugging me due to the amount of love I felt as she held me._ _I could tell that she really loved her little Jetfire with all her heart…er, spark._ _**{He really cares about you, Valerie. Don't let Sideways tell you differently.}**_

"_Jetfire was right." I told her. "He was right when he said he couldn't have asked for a better mother."_

_**{I know.} **__She told me, stroking her hand down my hair. __**{My son is back from his mission with the other Autobots and is making his way here. I'll sing the Cybertronian Lullaby to you as you wake up.}**_

_I heard Astera singing the Cybertronian Lullaby, the words coming from her mouth being a series of clicks and whirrs mixed together with what sounded like a different language. As strange as the sounds may have been when heard it was really soothing. So this was what Cybertronian sounded like. I could feel myself waking up as I felt a little lightheaded._

**_{Please take good care of my little Jetfire.}_**

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I felt myself waking up and I opened my eyes just as Jetfire entered his room. He saw that I was awake and I could feel the happiness in my mind as he made his way over to where I was and knelt down next to the side of his berth.

"Hey, Skydancer." He greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. My head doesn't hurt anymore." I told him as I sat up. "I had a little trouble sleeping at first, but eventually I was able to."

"That's good. Alexis is waiting for you so that you two can go home together."

Jetfire held out his hand for me to climb into and I did so. He held me close to where his spark was and started making his way to the door, but he paused in front of it.

"Jetfire?" I asked.

"Valerie. I want you to know that no matter what happens I'll always be there for you. I'll even be there to protect you if I'm able to."

My heart seemed to flutter when Jetfire said this and I felt my face heat up. Astera was right. He really did care about me. I had no reason to doubt anything. But then I thought of the fact that my performance was tomorrow night and felt a little anxious. I couldn't help but think back on Jetfire's words earlier today.

What was it he was going to tell me tomorrow?

* * *

ATE: That's it for chap 10 of this story. Again I had a fun time writing Sideways again. I think I just have a knack for writing sinister characters like him. And Valerie finally got to meet Astera for the first time. Any ideas you'd like to see in future chaps, feel free to share and I'll give you credit.

Please remember to review! ;D


	11. Mars

ATE: Dun, dun, duuunnn! Wait! The fact that I updated so soon is a good thing! I worked all day yesterday and late into this morning at 3:30 AM just to finish this chap. And I was so excited to get it done too! I would like to thank **Diamond White**, **4elementsfan4621**, **Mistress Megatron**, **Sailor Shinzo**, **Crystalmaiden62**, **kaitamis**, and **Crazygal217 **for their reviews on chap 10. You guys encouraged me to get this chap up as soon as it did and I have a feeling you all are going to love it. This chap will cover the events of Episode 36: Mars.

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OC Valerie

* * *

Chapter 11: Mars

Alexis, Rad, Carlos, and I were standing on a cliff while we watched Starscream running around in a rage as he slashes at the boulders around him with the Star Saber. It was horrible seeing how much anger he had as he yelled out battle cries. Was he liked this because of whatever happened when the Autobots invaded the Decepticon base? No one has told me what happened, but I thought of asking Jetfire when I got the chance. All I knew was that we had a lot more Mini-Cons than what I remembered.

"What's _his _problem?" Rad asked, his hands placed on his hips.

"No clue, dude." Carlos replied, sounding just as clueless as I assumed he was.

I looked over at Alexis and I saw the concerned look on her face as she watched Starscream. I couldn't help but wonder why she was so concerned about him but then I realized something. Did she like Starscream? That's another thing I'm going to have to ask about.

Starscream continued running but suddenly he stopped in place and seemed to be staring at something.

"He stopped." Rad stated.

"Maybe he's gonna puke up his lunch." Carlos guessed.

"Carlos!" Alexis exclaimed.

I tried to get a good look at what Starscream saw, even going as far as squinting my eyes a bit before I spotted what it was. It looked to be a field of flowers. I didn't even know they were there at all. After awhile Starscream eventually went over to a boulder and sat on top of it. He looked kind of depressed. The Mini-Cons that formed the Star Saber separated and stood in front of him with another Mini-Con that I've never seen before. Alexis started walking away from us.

"Hey Alexis, where are ya going?" Rad asked.

"And what're you doing?" Carlos asked.

Alexis didn't say anything and I realized that she was going over to Starscream.

"Hey, that's dangerous!"

"Yeah, Starscream is a little out to lunch right now. Uh, look out!"

"Oh, _relax_." Alexis stopped in front of the ex-Decepticon and stood there looking up at him. I watched as she talked to Starscream (the Mini-Cons running away at some point), but I couldn't tell what they were saying. Eventually Starscream got up and started walking away and I went up to her to see that she looked disappointed. "Jeepers. You go out of your way to try and help somebody - and all they do is bite your head off."

"Are you okay, Alexis?" Rad asked after he and Carlos joined us.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Carlos asked.

"I'm fine, you guys. But I don't think Starscream is." She told us. "He's gonna do something drastic."

"Wha?" Rad and Carlos seemed confused by what she said, although I wasn't sure what she meant either.

We all decided to head back to the base and when we were inside I pulled Alexis to the side in order to talk to her.

"What is it, Valerie?" She asked me.

"I saw how you were looking at him and I couldn't help but wonder…" I trailed off.

"Wonder what?"

"Do you like Starscream?" I asked quietly.

I watched as Alexis' face turned red and she averted her gaze to the floor.

"I-I guess so…" She said quietly.

"Then don't you think you should tell him? At least at some point?"

"Eventually." Her face returned to normal and she looked up at me with a smirk. "But I could say the same thing for you. When are _you _going to tell Jetfire that you like him?"

"Alexis!" I felt my face heat up when she mentioned Jetfire. How did she managed to make my question backfire on me?

"Well?" She pressed.

I was saved from having to answer when I heard the sound of loud footsteps coming down the hallway. I turned around to see that it was Jetfire.

"Speak of the devil." She whispered. "Hey, Jetfire!"

"Hey, you two." Jetfire stopped near us before getting down on one knee.

"I-I'm going to go outside now." I stuttered before heading back out.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire watched Valerie leave quickly and he couldn't help but wonder what was wrong.

"What's wrong with Valerie?" He asked, turning back to Alexis.

"She's just nervous about tonight." She answered. "You're coming to her performance, right?"

"Sure I am! And I came here to ask you about that as well."

"Oh?" He could tell that Alexis was interested on what he had to say. "What is it?"

"Well…uh…" Why was it that he suddenly felt nervous? He was supposed to be the confident one here! "I was thinking of giving her something after her performance and…uh… I don't exactly understand human customs when it comes to something like this."

"Oh, I see! Don't worry, Jetfire! I've got you covered." Alexis went into a nearby room, only to come out with some red flowers. Jetfire quickly looked them up and realized that they were roses. "This is what you should give her after her performance. I only put them in this room in order to hide them from her. Just don't tell her about them and you'll be fine."

"Okay! Thanks, Alexis." He said.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I held a hand over my heart that was racing in my chest in order to calm it down. My face was warm from how close I was to Jetfire and it didn't help that Alexis was there and we had just been talking about him. I'll admit that I like Jetfire, but I wasn't sure if he felt the same way about me. I was too scared to tell him. But then I felt a little depressed when I remembered yesterday when he told me how sparkmates were predetermined by Primus (I learned that he was basically the Transformer equivalent of God). He told me he was still looking for his sparkmate and I almost wished I were a Transformer instead of being human. He probably didn't have any feelings for me.

"Whatcha doing, Skydancer?"

I turned around to find Jetfire behind me. I felt my face heat up and bit and turned back to look at the sky.

"Just gazing at the sky." I told him. "It looks so peaceful today."

"Yeah, it does…" He agreed.

I could hear him moving around before sitting down next to me on my right. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that he had one leg hanging off the side of the cliff while the other one was bend close to his chest, which he rested his arm on in a casually relaxed way. His optics were gazing off into the distance and something about his pose seemed so…thoughtful and a little lonely. It made me feel sympathetic and if he were human (or the size of one) I would've given him a hug or something. Maybe I was reading too much into it. But then I couldn't help but wonder what he would look like if he were a human.

"What's wrong, Skydancer?" He suddenly asked before turning to look at me.

I lowered my gaze and felt my face heat up from being caught staring at him.

"N-nothing! I mean-yes! No-no-"

"Whoa! Calm down and take a deep breath there!" I did what he did told me and I found that it calmed me down a bit. "Now why don't you start tell me what's wrong."

I sighed.

"I-I'm extremely nervous about tonight." I told him. "I have a lot of butterflies in my stomach."

"Butterflies?" He asked confused. "You were eating insects?"

"No, no! It's just another way of saying you're really nervous. No actual butterflies involved."

"Oh. I watched you practice last time and you did just fine! So you have nothing to be nervous about." I looked at him and saw that he was gazing at me. "Plus you've gotten a little more confident ever since you met us."

"You really think so?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah. If it helps try thinking of some happy thoughts."

I smiled.

"Thanks, Jetfire."

"No problem!"

I suddenly remembered what I wanted to ask Jetfire.

"What happened yesterday when you guys invaded the Decepticons' base? Starscream seemed really mad earlier."

"Oh, _that_." Jetfire said a slightly sour tone. "Starscream didn't get his chance to take down Megatron so he's being a total aft about it."

"'Aft?'" I asked.

Jetfire's optics widened in surprised as he realized what I was talking about.

"Don't tell Optimus I said that in front of you! He won't be very pleased!"

"What's so bad about that word? You've said some weird words in the past, like 'slag', 'glitch', and 'frag'"

"Oh, Primus." He groaned. "You really kept track of _those_ words I've said?"

"Yeah. They were weird words so of course I kept track. I don't understand what's so bad about them."

"For Cybertronians those words are considered curse words. That's _why _they're bad. And it's bad enough that I let you say the ones you did, and that's not even all of them. Just don't go repeated them around the others."

"Oh. I didn't know they were that bad."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_(Later)_

"What is it? What's going on?" Optimus asked as the alarm bared in the background.

Everyone as in the command center as Alexis sat at the human size monitor as she typed at it. Rad, Carlos, Billy, Fred, and I all stood around her in order to see the screen. The Autobots (and ex-Decepticon) stood by as they waited anxiously for the answer they were seeking.

"We found another Mini-Con, Optimus." Rad answered. "It's a new one."

"A new Mini-Con!"

"You serious?" Carlos asked. "Where is it, Alexis?"

"Hang on. I'm trying to find out, but something's not right." Alexis told him.

"What do you mean?" Rad asked, leaning in a bit.

"Well, it doesn't look like Earth's surface."

Hot Shot and Red Alert turn to Starscream.

"The moon?" Starscream asked. I turned around to see that Hot Shot and Red Alert were looking at him as well. "Is it at the Decepticon base where Megatron is?"

"No, it's not." Alexis answered. "It looks like it's -"

"Totally _bizarre_." Rad exclaimed. "What is it, Alexis?"

"It... It looks like Mars! That new Mini-Con's on Mars."

"_Mars_?" Billy asked.

Sure enough, the monitor showed that the Mini-Con _was _on Mars.

"I'm not surprised." Optimus said.

"But that's in outer space." Fred stated.

"Hey, guys, can I come with you, _pleeaasse_?" Carlos begged, his hands clasped in front of him as he looked at the Autobots with a puppy dog face (the one that a lot of people used whenever they begged).

"We _can't _go into outer space." Scavenger told him.

"For starters, neither of us can even _fly_." Hot Shot added.

"But we can't abandon the Mini-Con." Optimus stated.

"Sometimes you _just _gotta go." Billy told them.

"I gotta go." Fred added.

'_Oh, god…_' I thought.

"Scavenger's right, you guys." Rad stated. "The only ones that can make the trip to Mars right now are Jetfire and Starscream."

"Yeah. I can _handle_ this on my own. Outer _space_, no _probs_." Jetfire said, his confidence obvious as he spoke. "All I have to do is _find_ the Mini-Con before the Decepti-dummies, right?"

"Hmmm…" Optimus said thoughtfully.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Carlos, Billy, and Fred walking off somewhere. Where were they going? I turned back to what was going on as Hoist went up to Jetfire with the Skyboom Shield in his hands.

"Here ya go." Hoist said, handing Jetfire the Skyboom Shield. The Vice Commander took it without a word.

"Wait a minute!" Starscream exclaimed, running up to Jetfire. "I'm going, too. Megatron will be there."

"Oh, who said _you_ could come? Why don't you just _follow_ orders for _once_, huh?" Jetfire asked, looking at the ex-Decepticon before he started walking off. "You're just gonna _slow _me down, anyway."

"C'mon, Jetfire, why don't you take 'im?" Hot Shot suggested.

"I don't need the _trouble_." Jetfire continued walking down the hallway in the direction of the launching dock. His right arm was extended and it seemed like he was waving it in a dismissive fashion when in reality he wasn't moving it at all.

I looked at Starscream to see that he was staring at Jetfire's retreating form, all the while growling quietly. I was surprised when he followed after him. I went back over to the monitor where Alexis and Rad still were and I watched from the footage as Jetfire walked confidently into the launching dock.

"Okay. I am _ready_ to roll." Suddenly he stopped and looked down. "Aaah…"

"Is there something _wrong_?" Alexis asked.

Alexis switched to another camera feed, but nothing prepared us for what we saw.

Monitor screen then changes to Fred, Billy, and Carlos wearing spacesuits.

"Hey! Hahahaha! Hello!" That's right. The monitor showed Fred, Billy, and Carlos were wearing space suits (complete with their helmets) as they waved at us. No wonder Jetfire stopped; they were standing in front of him.

"Yikes." Alexis said dully, scratching her head in a slightly annoyed way.

"At least they're wearing helmets this time." Rad said pointedly.

"So this is _why _they ran off." I added.

The rest of the Autobots laughed and I couldn't help but giggle a little myself.

"C'mon, you gotta take us with you, man!" Carlos said to Jetfire.

"Yeah, we wanna go into space too!" Billy added.

"Quit wasting _time_! Get out of his way!" Alexis scolded.

"Is that a no then?"

"Aww, _please_?" Fred begged.

"No!" Alexis, Rad, and I said at once.

"Awww, but I wanted to be like a rocket man, man." Carlos said.

"Yeaahh, uhh, sorry to _disappoint _you." Jetfire told them.

"Well, at least bring us back a souvenir." Billy insisted.

"Like a Mars rock." Fred added.

"Yeah, I'll...uh… see what I can do." Suddenly Starscream walked past Jetfire. "Huh?"

"Out of my way!" Starscream demanded. "_I'm_ taking off first."

Starscream transformed before anyone could stop him.

"_Hey_! Who's he think he _is_?" Jetfire exclaimed before taking off after him.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

After chasing after Starscream to through space Jetfire eventually spotted the red planet known as Mars.

"Man, where did that _nutcase_ Starscream get to _now_? Ah, well, forget him. The Mini-Con is what _matters_ right now." Jetfire said, making his way to the planet's surface. He found a place to land and released his Mini-Con partner, Comettor, so that he could look for the Mini-Con they were searching for. "_There_ you are, little one. Off you go!" With that Comettor transformed and started driving away. "Find that Mini-Con as quickly as you can. We're all counting on ya, and the clock is_ ticking _for all of us." Comettor bleeped in response. Even thought he couldn't understand what his Mini-Con partner said to him, Jetfire had a feeling that he said something along the lines of 'You can count on me.' The shuttle mech looked around him. "But still, I wish I knew where Starscream was." Suddenly he saw a planet storm heading in his direction. "And there's a storm coming in."

'_And this mission has suddenly gotten a little more difficult._' He thought. '_I just hope I can make it back in time_.'

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The screen on the monitor got blurry with white flurries (that rhymes) and it prevented us from seeing what was happening. I felt worried about Jetfire.

"Come in, Jetfire." Alexis said. "Do you read me? Over."

"**_Yeah, I'm reading you but you're break_**_ing up_**_ real bad_.**" I heard Jetfire's voice answer us. Even as he spoke his voice was breaking up due to the interference.

"We haven't got anymore data for you, except for the Mini-Con is _there_. You're on your own."

I couldn't hear the first bit Jetfire said because of the all the static. "**_I'm not _**_making out_ **_what you're saying_.**"

"Come again? Over."

"What did he say?" Rad asked.

"He's too far away." Alexis said.

"Err, uh... Somebody - _help _me!" Fred cried.

"What's the problem?" Rad asked.

I turned to see that Fred was trying to scratch his nose…with his _helmet _still on!

"My nose is itchy... and I _can't _scratch it!" How stupid could he get. I bet that he wasn't even smarter than a fifth grader.

"So _why_ don't you take your _helmet _off?"

"Oh, would you goofs be quiet. You guys shouldn't have put on those spacesuits in the _first _place." Alexis stated.

"But if I can't touch my face, how am I gonna eat my lunch? Huh?"

Optimus laughed in amusement. I guess he found it funny.

I turned back to the monitor that was still had the white flurries and I couldn't help but worry about Jetfire. I then thought of something. Would I be able to talk to Jetfire like he's done with me recently?

'_Jetfire? Can you hear me?_' I asked. I felt anxious. Would this even work?

**_{Skydancer? Is that you?} _**I heard his voice ask in my mind. His voice was loud and clear that it was like he was standing next to me.

I released the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

'_Yes. It's me._' I told him. '_What happened? We just suddenly lost contact with you here._'

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

'_That'd probably be because of the storm I happened to run into on Mars._' Jetfire stated.

He was struggling to get through the storm that was raging all around him. It was hard to walk through it due to all the wind he was resisting and even though he was using his right arm to shield his face, he could barely see anything through all the dust and rock flying around him.

_**{How bad is it, Jetfire?} **_Valerie's voice asked him. Hearing her voice at the moment was something he was really grateful for and in a way it encouraged him to continue moving forward.

'_Bad enough to be compared to a blizzard or sandstorm back on Earth._'

**_{Were you able to hear what Alexis said to you about the Mini-Con?}_**

'_I wasn't even able to understand a single word. Could you tell me?_'

**_{Alexis said that we couldn't find anymore data on the exact location of the Mini-Con.} _**He could feel her disappointment through their connection. **_{I'm sorry we couldn't be able to help you any further.}_**

'_It's fine, Skydancer. It might not be enough to go by, but it's better than nothing._' He reassured her.

Suddenly Jetfire saw the blast of someone trying to shoot at him, causing him to stop where he was.

"What's that?" He asked as he looked up.

Jetfire could barely make out the form of something huge. Thinking quickly he decided to use the cover the storm provided him to get away before he could be hit again. He wasn't going to take any chances.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The footage on the monitor never changed, but at least I knew Jetfire was alright.

"Ah, wonder what's going on with Jetfire." Rad asked.

"I sure hope he's okay." Alexis said.

"I hope Starscream's not _doing _anything stupid, either." Hot Shot said.

"Huh?" We all turned around to look at Hot Shot.

"I mean... Heh, heh. I hope he's doing okay." The yellow Autobot added.

The others laughed lightly.

"Errr…" Optimus sounded like he was thinking.

"Jetfire's going to be okay." I said.

"How do you know?" Alexis asked, turning around to face me.

"I just have a feeling that he will, that's all." I told her. "Gut instinct."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire managed to get away just in time for the storm to pass over and was instantly glad to be able to see where he was. Just as he continued forward he suddenly spotted Comettor, followed by the three Mini-Cons that made up the Star Saber. _Star Saber_! If they were here, then that meant Starscream was nearby!

"There you are! I have a feeling you couldn't find the Mini-Con, but do you know where Starscream is?" He asked.

The Mini-Cons bleeped before running off in the direction they came from. Jetfire knew that they wanted him to follow and he went after them. Eventually they came the three Mini-Cons he was following bleeped just as they ran around the corner, along with Comettor.

"Is this where he is?" Jetfire asked as he rounded the corner. He turned his head and spotted Starscream sitting on the ground as he leaned against the rocky wall of the valley they were in. It was quiet as he had a stare down with the ex-Decepticon, but it was Starscream that was the first to look away. He made his way over to him. "There you are. I've been looking for you. Here." Jetfire stopped in front of Starscream and held his hand out to him. "Give me your hand."

"Just save it. I _want_ to be left _alone_." Starscream said.

"Tch. Still as _stubborn_ as ever, I see." He pulled his hand away seeing as the mech in front of him didn't _want _his help.

"_Your_ mission is to rescue the Mini-Cons! So _do_ it!"

It was quiet as Jetfire just gazed at Starscream, his patience wearing thin already.

"Look, why don't you just…_get up _off _your butt _and do _your _job like you're _supposed_ to. Help _me _get that Mini-Con back to Earth."

"That's _your_ job." Starscream snapped. "_My_ purpose here is to _bring down _Megatron! _You_ can't possibly _understand _the humiliation that I've _suffered_!"

'_That's it! I've had enough of this slag!_' He thought

"You know what, you're right. I _don't_ understand. And I _don't_ want to, _either_!" Jetfire leaned down and grabbed Starscream's left arm before pulling out a pair of handcuffs from his subspace. He bound the ex-Decepticon's left wrist with one end before closing the other end around his own right wrist.

"What do you think you're _doing _to me?"

"I'm _busting_ ya for the crime of disobeying orders." He told him, raising his right arm to show him that he handcuffed himself. "_Sorry_."

"You can't be serious! Get these off me _now_!"

"No _can_ do. Like I said, you're _busted_. I'll decide everything you _do_ from this point on. It's for your own good and you _know _it."

Starscream growled. "You'll _pay _for this."

Jetfire dragged Starscream with him as they flew away from Mars. He was going to take him back to base before he would even _think _of continuing this mission.

"I've placed Starscream under arrest and I'm bringing him in from Mars _immediately_." He said, communicating with the others back at the base.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"And the Mini-Con?" Rad inquired.

"**_It'll have to wait._**" Jetfire answered.

"_What_? Are you _nuts?_" Sideswipe protested."We're gonna need the Mini-Con to-"

"That's enough." Optimus ordered. "Go ahead and bring Starscream in right now. It's time that he learned a little lesson. Isn't that right, kids?" He asked, aiming the question at us.

"Aheheheh…" Alexis laughed nervously. Why was she laughing like that?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"C'mon, Starscream. _Quit _struggling." Jetfire said as they continued flying away from Mars.

"Will you just leave me alone?" Starscream asked in an annoyed tone.

"Listen to _me_, I know the Decepticons are used to fighting for themselves, but Autobots _aren't_ like that. We function as a _team_." He explained. "If one member isn't _obeying_ orders, then the whole group will fall apart. Right? Everyone has to do their _part_. Everyone has to help _just _the same."

"I _must_ have Megatron."

Jetfire sighed before looking down at Starscream. "You know what, I've had enough." He looked ahead. "I'm taking you back to Earth and don't try to stop me."

"Hold on a sec!"

"Save your _breath_."

"I see him."

"Who, _Megatron_?" Jetfire said Megatron's name in a mocking tone.

"No, the Mini-Con!"

"_What_?"

Jetfire looked at Starscream in shock. It was quiet for a bit before his 'partner' spoke.

"Over there." He said. "On that asteroid."

Jetfire started approached the asteroid, dragging Starscream along with him. It was when he spotted the panel that he know that the ex-Decepticon was right!

"I see it!"

"You're going to rescue him, aren't you?"

Jetfire looked at Starscream, a smirk forming behind his face mask.

"Lemme tell ya my…_personal_ motto." He started.

"Huh?"

Jetfire looked forward towards the asteroid. "VICTORY IS _MINE_!" He shouted before using the boosters underneath his feet to fly closer to the asteroid "Ignite!" Jetfire spotted where the Mini-Con was and started flying over to it. "There it is! Okay, Starscream, when we fly over, _you _grab it."

"You're asking me? Okay."

"Careful…" The shuttle mech muttered to himself as Starscream tried to reach for the Mini-Con, but he couldn't get it.

"Get…me a bit…closer." Starscream told him.

Jetfire complied, boosting a bit forward to get closer.

"Easy…" He watched as Starscream touched the panel, causing the Mini-Con to activate. "Huh?"

Suddenly something started shooting at them and they screamed.

"Ah!" Jetfire exclaimed as the blast sent them away from the Mini-Con. "_Decepticons_!"

Jetfire managed to catch a glimpse of who was shooting at them, only to have his optics widened when he saw the huge form of Tidal Wave. He could hear the huge Decepticon laughing maniacally as he continued shooting at them. They two flyers tried to get away and Jetfire mentally cursed as he realized the mistake of handcuffing _both _of he and Starscream together.

"Ugh! I can't _move _like this!" He growled in frustration.

"Well, then take these cuffs off me before they get us _both_ killed!" Starscream yelled.

Jetfire looked back at him.

"If I could _do _that, I would've _done _it already."

"Fire!" Starscream suddenly yelled at the Mini-Con.

"Huh?" What was Starscream thinking? Jetfire looked back at the Mini-Con and saw that Tidal Wave was getting closer to it. He heard the Mini-Con bleep as it turned his head to look at Starscream.

"I said fire!" Mini-Con bleeped again, as if wondering what Starscream meant. "We Autobots will protect you! The Decepticons will use you as a tool for war! Trust me!"

"Keep talking, Starscream. That's the way." Jetfire muttered. He was surprised by what the ex-Decepticon was doing.

"Don't become a Decepticon! Save _yourself_!" He continued pleading. "Take it _down_! _Fire_! _FIRE_!"

Mini-Con bleeped before shooting a yellow beam at Tidal Wave, which hit it's target successfully. Jetfire and Starscream started flying over to the Mini-Con and the latter managed to grab a hold of his arm as they passed by before flying away.

"Do it, Starscream!" Jetfire urged as he opened his back compartment. As soon as the Mini-Con was placed inside he closed his back compartment in order to keep the it safe. "_Nice_ work. Rescue mission _accomplished_."

"Heh?" Starscream gasped in surprise.

"What is it?" He asked.

Jetfire looked ahead and his optics widened when he saw Megatron, who happened to have the Requiem Blaster in his possession.

'_Oh, Primus. Here we go again!_' He groaned mentally.

"Megatron!" Starscream exclaimed. He stopped flying and Jetfire had no choice but to stop. "_Now_ I will finish him off for _good_!"

"No chance. We have to turn back." Jetfire told him.

"Stand and fight, you coward." Megatron demanded, aiming the Requiem Blaster at them.

"_I _will fight him."

"_No_ way. _We're_ leaving."

Jetfire held the Skyboom Shields in front of him, only to have it starts glowing. He noticed that the Requiem Blaster _and _the Star Saber did the same thing as well.

"Huh?" He could hear Starscream's confusion.

"What's going on? _What _is this?" He asked in shock.

"And now the moment we've _all _been waiting for!" Megatron announced.

Suddenly a glowing golden ball of light started to grow in the space that separated them from Megatron and it started getting bigger and bigger. It eventually got so bright that Jetfire was surprised that he managed to get himself and Starscream away as they escape.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Jetfire! Starscream!" Alexis called. "What's the matter - what's happening out there?"

"Was there another storm?" Billy asked

Alexis turned to Billy.

"No, I think something _else_ happened."

"What, Decepticons?" Hot Shot asked.

We were all quiet as we waited for an answer. I started getting worried, but suddenly I felt the familiar reassurance inside my mind as I heard the sound of static coming from the speakers.

"**_Jetfire here. Over_**."

We all sighed in relief and I released the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"What just happened?" Alexis asked.

"**_Everybody relax. We _had_ some trouble, but we're okay _now_._**" Jetfire told us."**_We managed to rescue the Mini-Con and we're on our way back to you._**"

"And Starscream?" I could hear the concern in Alexis' voice.

"**_Who? _Starscream_? Uhhh, I don't know anyone by that name_**."

"**_Very funny._**" Starscream's voice said as Jetfire almost finished his sentence. He didn't sound amused.

"**_Hahahaha!_**" I started giggling as I heard Jetfire laughing at his own joke. Even Hot Shot sounded a little amused by the joke as well.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_(Later)_

"A mysterious _power_, you say?" Optimus asked as he stood in front of Jetfire in the launching dock after his Vice Commander had explained what happened.

"That's right." Jetfire confirmed.

"Until we know more about it, let's keep this to ourselves. We wouldn't want to cause unnecessary alarm."

"Yes, sir. I'll have a _word _with Starscream and let him know not to say anything."

"Good."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, Fred, and I came into the launching dock. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Starscream sitting on the floor leaning against the wall as Red Alert walked away from him. I could see the other Mini-Cons surrounding the new on as they conversed with each other. I went with Carlos, Billy, and Fred as they ran up to Jetfire.

"So what was outer space like?" Carlos asked excitedly.

"How was Mars?" Billy asked.

"Can you scratch _your_ nose in outer space?" Fred asked, But then he seemed to realize something. "W-wait, do you _have _a nose?"

"Right here, _brainiac_." Jetfire answered, pointing at his face mask where I assumed his nose would be in a jabbing motion. I was suddenly reminded of when I had felt his face while he was asleep and I couldn't help my face from heating up slightly. He soon stopped and stood up straight. "You shouldn't be so eager to _show _off whatcha don't know."

"Sooo, did you bring back a souvenir?" Carlos asked.

"Uhhh, sorry, guys." Jetfire shrugged his shoulders. "The souvenir shops on Mars were all…closed."

"Awwww!" I could hear the disappointment in the boys' voice.

"Will they be open tomorrow?" Fred asked.

I face palmed at his stupidity. Jetfire must've noticed what I did.

"Why'd you hit yourself, Skydancer?" He asked me.

"I didn't hit myself." I told him.

"Oh."

I looked over at Alexis and saw that she was talking to Starscream before he walked away. She looked a little disappointed but then she seemed to spot something on the ground and pick something up.

"Hey, Carlos!" Alexis called out.

"Huh?" Carlos looked over at Alexis and he suddenly beamed. "Hey, what do you got there?"

We all ran over to where Alexis was and we saw a huge rock that seemed to sparkle in the light. I realized in my excitement that it was a rock from Mars! Then that meant that Starscream left it there.

"I got a rock! I got a rock!" Fred exclaimed excitedly.

I picked up a small piece of rock big enough to fit in the palm of my hand and admired the texture. It was like any other rock you would find on Earth, except there was the obvious different that could be clearly be seen. It had a few tiny green stones embedded in it, which added to the stone's uniqueness.

I felt an indescribable emotion coming from Jetfire and turned around to see him gazing at me. Just by looking at his gold optics I could tell he was happy and I smiled. I went over to him and as I got closer he lowered his hand so I could climb on and I did so before he lifted me up. He wrapped his fingers around my body protectively as he left the launching dock and down the hallway towards the exit. I could see that the sun was setting and I knew I had to get going soon.

"Thank you, Jetfire." I told him as he placed me on the ground.

"No problem." He replied. "Good luck with your performance. I'll see you afterwards."

At this I was confused. He'd see me afterwards?

"How?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, Skydancer."

_(Later)_

I eventually made it to the studio, where everyone (including myself) got ready for the performance that would be starting in about half an hour. My hair was put up in a bun so that it didn't get in my way as I danced and I was dressed a pale pink tutu, the outfit I would be performing in.

**_Inside your heart I see the truth_**  
**_Inside your smile I see a shining dream_**  
**_Inside your body lies a hidden bravery_**  
**_The wall before your eyes has turned into nothing_**

I stood up before going over to peek at the audience from behind stage. I couldn't help the nervousness I felt. This was my first performance and Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred were here to see it. What if I messed up? Then all the practice I've done outside of lessons would've been for nothing.

**_I finally understand the reasons to why we met _**  
**_If I open my ears a little bit_**

I felt a hand land on my shoulder and turned around to see Ms. Sanders. She gazed at me in concern as if she could sense my nervousness. Did she know what it was like to feel as nervous as I was right now before my performance.

"It's okay, Valerie." She told me. "It' common to feel nervous the first time you perform. You'll do fine."

**_My future is calling me_**  
**_I will soon be on my way, and I'll transform my own two hands into wings_**  
**_I won't lose to anyone, you'll see_**  
**_I'll surpass the heartache and I will become stronger_**

I glanced back as I watched as more piled into the auditorium. I sighed, knowing that my parent wouldn't be here to see me perform tonight. What if my friends didn't come or didn't make it?

_**Behind your back the path still remains**_  
_**Inside your eyes I see passion swirling**_  
_**Within your voice you show me the way**_  
_**Risks will always continue to call you and me**_

I suddenly felt reassurance and felt guilty that Jetfire picked up on it. Thinking of him I suddenly remembered what he told me yesterday. He said that he had something to tell me later on tonight and I couldn't help but wonder what it was.

**_Eternity is boring and will last forever_**  
**_It will never stop for just one second_**

It was strange. One minute I was behind stage and then I was standing in front of the many people sitting in the audience who came. I spotted my friends sitting in the crowd among a group of men sitting around them, noticing that one of the men was holding some roses. Something about them seemed familiar, but I wasn't sure what it was.

**_My future is waiting_**  
**_I'll still take one step forward, because I believe there's still some good intent_**  
**_I won't lose to anyone, you'll see_**  
**_I'll surpass all of this and someday we will transform_**

The other students in my ballet class were with me and I took a deep breath before I started dancing.

**_My future is calling me_**  
**_I will soon be on my way, and I'll transform my own two hands into wings_**  
**_I won't lose to anyone, you'll see_**  
**_I'll surpass the heartache and I will become stronger_**

As I danced I thought of the time when Jetfire first saw me dancing, the time I've spent with my friends and the Autobots, and when Jetfire took me flying. I thought of the peace I felt whenever he would hum the Cybertronian Lullaby to me and I thought of when I first met Astera. And then I realized I haven't messed up.

**_My future is waiting_**  
**_I'll still take one step forward, because I believe there's still some good intent_**  
**_I won't lose to anyone, you'll see_**  
**_I'll surpass all of this and someday we will transform_**

Before I knew it I was hearing the thundering applauses of many people resound in my ears and I knew that the audience liked the performance. I felt happy knowing that I didn't mess up or hesitate.

**_We'll surpass this and become stronger_**

I went off the stage with everyone else so that we could get ready to leave. I had just gotten out of my outfit and was taking my hair down when Ms. Sanders came up to me.

"You did wonderfully, Valerie. I could tell that you had confidence in yourself as you danced tonight. I'm so proud of you." She told me, a smile on her face. "You've come a long way in since you started."

"Thank you, Ms Sanders. I've…had a lot of friends that encouraged me and helped me through all of this." I said, thinking of my friends, both human and Autobot. But there was one of them that really helped me out the most and I smiled when I thought of him.

"And I must say that they did a good job in doing so. I should probably let you go now. Have a good rest of the evening."

"You too."

I watched as she left and I decided to do the same after gathering my things.

_(15 minutes later)_

I came into the entrance area where I found there were only a few people talking to others, but I didn't see my friends anywhere.

'_Where could they be?_' I thought.

"There you are! I was looking for you!"

I turned around to where the voice came from and was surprised to find the guy I saw with the roses standing behind me. I was finally able to get a good look at him since I wasn't able to before. He was tall and easily towered over me (I only came up to his chest). His dark reddish-brown hair was slightly shaggy with his bangs swept to one side while a few strands got in front of his eyes, which I was surprised to see where a golden yellow color. As for his outfit he wore cargo pants, a gray wife beater and a white jacket with some red accents he wore over it. He looked young and I assumed that he was somewhere in his 20s. But overall he was attractive. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment due to the fact that I was staring and tried to look away from him in my shy awkwardness, but something would always draw my eyes back to him. Was it because he felt somewhat familiar?

"Y-you were looking for me?" I asked.

"Yep! I got these for you." He said, his voice sounding familiar to me.

He suddenly hand me the roses he had and I felt my face heat up again. I didn't even know him and yet he gave me roses.

"T-thanks… But who are you?"

I watched as the man's face changed to express mock hurt.

"What? Are you telling me you _don't_ recognize me, Skydancer?"

I felt myself tense up. Did I hear right?

"What did you call me?"

"You heard me!" He smirked, seeming to enjoy my confusion. "After all, I _was_ the one who gave you that nickname in the first place."

My eyes widened in surprise. No wonder his voice sounded familiar! But how…?

"Jetfire…?" I asked quietly, feeling unsure.

"Yep! About _time _you figured it out."

"B-but how…? You're…human."

"Well, to make a _long_ story short, Red Alert finally managed to finish his little science fair project and installed one in each of us so we could have human forms. Say hello to the holoform."

"So those other men you were sitting with were the others?"

"That's right, Valerie."

I turned around when I heard the familiar voice behind me and found the men I had seen earlier along with my friends and I knew they were the Autobots. It was strange seeing them as humans. And strangely enough, I could figure out which one was which.

Optimus' holoform had the appearance of someone in their early 30s, with neat bluish black hair and gold eyes. He wore blue jeans with a red button-up shirt.

I immediately spotted Hot Shot, who looked to be 16 with blue eyes and messy blonde hair. He wore jeans and a yellow T-shirt, which he wore over a long sleeve red shirt. He was slightly muscular, showing that he obviously wasn't a boy, but at the same time he wasn't an adult either.

Standing next to Hot Shot I could see Sideswipe. Like Hot Shot, he looked like he was 16 and was slightly muscular. His eyes were blue and he had neat black hair. He wore tan Capri pants and a blue dress shirt. Strangely enough something about his appearance reminded me of Daniel Radcliffe.

Next I spotted Red Alert, who appeared to be in his early 30s like Optimus. He had brown hair that slicked back and he wore glasses over his redish brown eyes. He wore black dress pants and a blue button-up shirt with a tie.

Funny how I spotted Blurr right away. He appeared to be in his late 20s with red eyes, which he wore a pair of sunglass that were tinted slight to the point that you could still see his eyes behind the shades. His hair was dark brown and was slightly spiked. As for what his clothes he wore a long sleeve blue shirt and cargo pants.

I was surprised when I saw Starscream's holoform since I didn't expect him to come (I almost wondered how Alexis or anyone for that matter convinced him to come). Like Blurr, he appeared to be in his late 20s with shaggy black hair that was slightly spiked and orange red eyes. He wore black jeans and a white jacket that he wore over his red shirt.

"You did a good job with your performance." Optimus told me and I could see him smiling.

"Thank you, Optimus." I said. "But where are the Scavenger and Hoist?"

"They weren't able to come since they had to look after the base." Alexis told me. "But I brought Laserbeak with me so they could watch your performance from the monitor in the command center."

I giggled.

"You always were clever, Alexis." I looked at everyone. "I'm glad you were able to come, but my parents weren't able to…"

"How come?" Optimus asked.

"They went on a business trip and won't be back until tomorrow evening."

"I see. I could assign you a temporary guardian for tonight. Would you be okay with that?"

"I guess so-I mean, I'm okay with that."

"Good." He turned to Jetfire. "Are you up to the task, Jetfire?"

"Ready for _anything_, Optimus!" Jetfire replied. "Hopefully you guys will be okay _without_ me having to hold your hands."

"Just go _already_. You're starting to get on my _nerves_ with your confidence." Starscream said.

"After all we've been through today, Starscream, you're _that _desperate to get rid of me so soon?"

I tuned out everything as I gazed down at the roses I held. It wasn't until I felt a hand on my shoulder that I realized that the other Autobots and my friends were gone, leaving me and Jetfire.

"C'mon, Skydancer. Let's get you home." Jetfire said.

Jetfire draped his arm around my shoulders, causing my face to heat up as he led me outside. It was strange. I was so used to seeing him as a transformer, but now that he had a human form (the holoform) it was different. My face had heated up countless times when I've been around him, but this time it was hard for me to look at him without thinking I was going to blush. And to think that I had wondered what he'd look like if he were human earlier today.

I noticed that he was leading me into the forested area and soon realized why when I saw his shuttle form, which was hidden from view if someone was standing outside the studio. It wasn't exactly common to see a space shuttle flying around as it was common to see a car driving on the street. Once inside I sat down in one of the seats at the front, watching Jetfire's holoform sitting down before feeling the safety harness snake around my chest and fastening together.

"How did you do that?" I asked, looking over at him.

"I may be using my holoform but that doesn't mean I _can't _multitask. I can still control my real form."

He didn't even place his hands on the controls when he went into the air; he was only sitting in his seat acting as if this was perfectly normal.

I glanced down at the roses I held, noticing how beautiful they were. I still couldn't believe I got them and…it made me happy.

"So? What do you think of the flowers?" Jetfire suddenly asked.

"Oh! Um… They're….they're nice." I said.

"Good. Alexis helped me by buying them ahead of time." He paused, as if realizing something. "What's wrong?"

"This is the first time I've ever received flowers for anything."

"The first time?"

I nodded.

"Any other time it was my parents who'd given me flowers, but it wasn't for anything like my performance."

"I'm glad I was the first to give you flowers besides your parents."

My heart seemed to flutter and my stomach seemed to do flips.

"Yesterday you said that there was something you wanted to tell me." I said. "What was it?"

I soon heard footsteps coming over to me before a hand was placed under my chin, tilting my head up so that I was forced to look at Jetfire's face. I felt my face heat up slightly and had no way to hide it. I was distracted by his gold eyes that gazed at me with an emotion that I couldn't discern.

"Your performance was beautiful tonight." I then realized that his face was close to mine that his lips lightly brushed against mine. I felt my heart hammering in my chest and my face seemed to heat up to 100 degrees. "You were graceful enough to be my Skydancer."

Jetfire suddenly pressed his lips to mine and I realized what he was doing! He was kissing me! I felt the hand that was under my chin move until it was placed on the side of my face before the other one did the same on the other side. My mind stated to feel fuzzy and I soon found myself closing my eyes, just giving in. I couldn't believe it. Was this really happening? Was I really being kissed by Jetfire, who was the Autobot Vice Commander, a transformer? Or was this something my mind was making up? It felt real enough. Fantastic would be an understatement of what it felt like. I wanted to wrap my arms around him but I wasn't able to since I was holding onto the roses.

Jetfire then pulled away a bit when he broke the kiss. I opened my eyes just in time to see him bring his face close to me before placing his forehead against mine. His eyes remained closed and I felt his warm breath lightly blow on me as he sighed deeply in content.

"I love you, Skydancer." He said quietly to me. He opened his golden colored eyes and I found myself gazing into them, his right hand lowering until it was on my forearm. "Remember when I told you how every Cybertronians' sparkmate is predetermined by Primus? And how I told you I was searching for my sparkmate?"

"Yes." I said quietly.

"Well, it turns out she happens to be you. You are my sparkmate." He told me. He looked hopeful. "Would you do me the honor by becoming my sparkmate?"

My eyes widened in surprise. He wanted me to become his sparkmate? I remember Red Alert telling me what a sparkmate was and I felt my heart flutter and my stomach do multiple flips. He's literally asking me to marry him!

"Jetfire I…" I hesitated. "…I-I can't. I can't." I watched as Jetfire's hopeful look disappeared and I suddenly felt horrible. "I want to, but I'm too young. I haven't even finished school yet."

Jetfire looked disappointed-no, devastated and hurt as he gazed at me and my heart tightened in guilt for causing him to be like this. It was like he was making me feel whatever emotions he was experience through our connection.

"I understand, Skydancer…" He said, and I could hear the hurt in his voice.

That was the last thing he said before his holoform flickered and disappeared before my very eyes, seeming as if he were never there. I continued staring at the empty spot he had been kneeling in front of me and felt my eyes well up with tear, instantly regretting what I've done. No matter how I tried to justify what I did it still didn't get rid of the guilt I felt. I noticed how completely quiet Jetfire was being as he continued flying to my home. I hung my head, letting my hair get in my face.

"I'm so sorry…" I said quietly.

Jetfire didn't say anything to indicated that he heard my words. Not even the safety harness around me tightened in the slightest bit to reassure me that they reached him and I felt like I was being stabbed in the chest because of the guilt. I knew without a doubt that I hurt him.

'_Why won't you answer?_' I thought, trying to reach him through our connection. '_Are you blocking me…just like I did to you yesterday?_'

As soon as Jetfire landed the safety harness automatically came off and I was a little hesitant to get up even though the door of his shuttle form was open. Eventually I got out and as soon as I did the door closed behind me. I felt saddened as I started making my way out of the wooded area in my back yard and looked back at Jetfire's unmoving form before walking across my back yard to my house.

As soon as I got inside I felt like I was about to cry and quickly went to my room upstairs, rushing into my bathroom and turning on the shower before stripping and jumping under the water. I allowed myself to finally cry for what I did, for hurting Jetfire. It hurt so much. I even promised Astera that I would take care of him and I ended up failing already. He didn't deserve it, but I couldn't go and marry him when I was still in middle school. My parents would say no for sure. But what if I told him that I would when I was older?

'_I…I have to tell him._' I thought in realization.

I quickly finished up before turning the water off and stepping out. I wrapped the towel around my body and got my Pjs on when I got in my room. Before heading outside I grabbed a blanket and tightly wrapped it around me the instant I went outside. I shivered from the cold air as I made my way across the yard and before I knew it I found myself standing in front of Jetfire's shuttle form staring up at him.

"Jetfire?" I asked, reaching out to place a hand on his side, only to stop myself and allow my hand to fall to my side. I sighed sadly. "You're probably sleeping right now…"

I turned around to head back inside, but I couldn't make myself leave. So I sat down on the ground facing him, my knees drawn to my chest as I kept the blanket wrapped around me in order to keep me warm. I shivered slightly, but there was nothing I could do about it. If anything, I could consider this punishment for what I said to him. I suddenly felt forlorn and depressed.

"Even thought you're not awake, I wanted to tell you something. I thought about what you said when you asked me to be your sparkmate and decided that maybe…no, not 'maybe'. I promise to become your sparkmate when I'm older and have finished high school." I lifted my head up. "I didn't mean to hurt you like I did earlier. I can say 'sorry' a million times to you, but it doesn't get rid of the guilt I have for what I did to you. It really hurt me knowing that I unintentionally hurt you."

My eyes filled up with tears and I hid my face as I started crying my heart out.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I said, repeating those words over and over like a mantra.

'_I wish you could forgive me._' I thought sadly.

Suddenly I felt warm arms wrap around me from behind, causing me to turn my head and gasped when I saw Jetfire's holoform behind me. His golden eyes gazed down at me in concern and I soon found my arms wrapped around him as I cried into his chest, his arms tighten around me as he held me close. I could hear him humming the Cybertronian Lullaby to me and I felt myself calm down as I continued to listen until I was slightly sniffling. Eventually the lullaby ended and I heard him sigh.

"It's okay, Skydancer…" He told me, and I would've smiled in relief for hearing his voice if it wasn't for my current mood.

"I'm so sorry, Jetfire. I'm so sorry for hurting you."

"I know."

"Huh?" I lifted my head to look at him. "B-but how?"

"I heard you talking to me."

"But I thought you were asleep."

"I was trying to, but then I heard and saw you coming out of your house." He brought him hand up and rested it on my cheek. "I accept your terms. I'll wait an eternity if it means I can have you as my sparkmate."

Jetfire pressed his lips to mine as he kissed me. I felt a few stray tears fall from my eyes and he must've noticed since he pulled away and started kissing my tears until they were gone. When he was done Jetfire pulled away to look at me and I saw so many emotions in his holoform's eyes and I knew he really meant what he said.

"Can I…can I slee-I mean stay with you tonight?" I asked.

He chuckled, seeming to be amused about something.

"How about a _different_ suggestion?" He smirked. "I recharge with _you _inside your house, where you'll be warm?"

Before I knew it I found myself being held in Jetfire's arms bridal style with my blanket wrapped around my body securely before he started walking towards my house. I felt my face heat up. I was used to him carrying me around in his hand as a transformer, but now that he had a holoform things were different. Despite only being a projection he was very human, and if I hadn't known better I would've thought he was 100% human. His holoform was _that _realistic.

"But what about your holoform?" I asked.

"I'll be okay. As long as I have it recharge like you humans, it'll recharge itself like a battery." He told me.

He soon made it to the back door of my house, making his way upstairs as soon as he got inside and eventually found my room easily. Jetfire went over to my bed and sat down on the side with me sitting on his lap. He held me close and I felt my face heat up slightly.

"Um…Jetfire? Can you put me down?"

"What if I don't _want_ to?" He asked, his gold eyes having a mischievous look.

"Please?"

It was quiet as he continued staring at me. Eventually he ended up sighing.

"How can I resist a face like that? I'll put you down."

Jetfire unwrapped his arms from around me and I was able to get up. I removed the blanket that was wrapped around me and went around to the other side of my bed and pulled the cover back before climbing in. I was about to close my eyes when Jetfire's holoform flickered a bit before showing him without his jacket on and I was able to see his muscled arms. I felt my face heat up when he turned around to face me, catching me staring at him before getting up, only to pulled the covers back and climb in so that he was laying beside me. I scooted closer to him and he more than willingly wrapped his arms around me before I was cradled close to his chest. I was so warm that I started closing my eyes. The last thing I heard before falling asleep was Jetfire humming.

* * *

ATE: And this is where everyone says, "It's about time they got together!" The funny thing is that I wrote this when chap 4 or 5 were still being typed up. As for the lyrics in this chap, they are actually written by me since I wrote them for a english fan cover I did for the song Itsumo, which was one of the Japanese ending themes for Transformers Cybertron/Galaxy Force. And before you ask, yes I actually sang the english fan cover, but I think I may have to redo it with a better mic. The english fan cover I did is actually up on youtube and in the video description I have written the lyrics in this chap and the original english translations of the actual Japanese lyrics. Here's the link (without spaces):

http : / www . youtube . com /watch? v=otV -2mBaIj0

Please remember to review. And remember: any ideas you'd like to see in future chaps, feel free to share and I'll give you credit.


	12. Broken Soldier

ATE: Oh Primus! I know I haven't updated since the 8th of August, but I had trouble getting my thoughts together. Luckily I had **Diamond White **to help me along the way with brain storming ideas with me (thank you!). It doesn't help that college has kept me busy and I'm officially on my third week so far. Anyways, big thanks and shout outs to **Crystalmaiden62**, **kaitamis**, **Diamond White**, **Sailor Shinzo**, **Mistress Megatron**, **Bumblebeecamaro38**, **sunnysides**, and **Dragons redemption **for their reviews on both chapters 10 and 11. Hopefully you all will be satisfied with this update.

Also, because of this chapter, the rating of this story will go up, thus making this story the first one to have an M rating. A fair warning to everyone, there will be a ton of fluff, lemon and/or smut, hence why the rating went up. Again, you've all been warned.

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

PS: Did I mention that both Jetfire and Sideways will be somewhat OOC? With the former being a being a bit...angsty?

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Chapter 12: Broken Soldier

I stirred slightly in my sleep as my half asleep mind didn't want to wake up. I just wanted to continue sleeping. I wrapped my arms around my pillow before burying my face in it, but then I realized something. Since when had my pillow been so…_firm_? And _warm_?

I suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around me as I was held close to something warm. One arm was around my waist while I felt someone's fingers run through my hair and I shivered slightly at the sensation. It felt nice and I sighed. I felt a kiss being placed on my forehead and in my curiosity I slowly opened my eyes before lifting my head up to find Jetfire's holoform gazing at me with his gold eyes as he smiled at me with the discernable emotion I had discovered last night to be love. It turned out that my head had been resting on his chest and I felt my face heat up slightly as I realized that he _wasn't _my pillow.

"Morning, Skydancer…" Jetfire greeted, his eyes showing so many emotions.

"Good morning, Jet-"

I stopped when he suddenly nuzzled his face in the crook of my neck. Not only did my face get warmer, my heart started to beat faster and my stomach started doing flips. He was so close and I had a feeling he could hear my heart beating so fast. I heard sniffing a bit before he sighed in content.

"You smell good." He breathed out, his warm breath blowing on my skin and causing me to get goosebumps and shiver slightly. I had a feeling he knew how this was affecting me and seemed to enjoy it.

"T-thanks, I guess." I said awkwardly. "What time is it?"

"It's only 6:50. Why?"

I groaned.

"It's too early to get up…"

I heard Jetfire chuckle, his holoform's chest vibrating a bit.

"I think I know a way to wake you up." He whispered in my ear, my face heating up from hearing his husky voice and how close he was.

It happened so fast. One second I was laying in the same position I woke up in, and the next I found myself pinned underneath Jetfire with his lips locked with mine. It took me by surprise since I hadn't expected this to happen. I felt him weave his fingers in my hair before pulling away to place his lips on the nap of my neck. I tried so hard not to moan from the pleasure I was experiencing as he kissed, sucked, and nipped at the skin on my neck, but then I accidentally let a quiet moan escape my lips, which only seemed to encourage him to continue. I felt something bulgy pressing against my leg and my eyes widened when I realized what it was, causing my face to heat up. Jetfire started running his free hand slowly down my side before slipping it underneath my shirt and causing me to shiver as he stroke his large hand along my side and stomach. I was suddenly feeling anxious as his hand traveled upwards before I started feeling fearful.

"Jetfire, stop…" I begged, my emotions clear in my voice.

He didn't seem to hear me and I started panicking when he suddenly cupped my bra covered breast.

"JETFIRE, STOP!" I cried desperately.

Jetfire suddenly jerked himself away and I soon found myself staring at his shock ridden face, his gold eyes showing not only his shock, but shame and terror at what he realized he'd been so close to doing; the desire and hunger that were most likely strong not so long ago were now weakening.

"Valerie…!" He said quietly in shock. "I-I'm sorry-"

I quickly got out from underneath him before rushing into the bathroom and locking the door behind me. I placed my back against the door before sliding down to sit on the floor with a hand pressed to my chest in order to stop my heart from hammering against it as a stray tear slid down my face. He'd been so close to doing _**that**_ and it scared me and I didn't know how to handle it.

"Valerie! I'm sorry…" I heard Jetfire's voice through the door. "I-I didn't mean to do that to you. I don't know what came over me back there." I heard him sigh sadly and I suddenly felt guilt, but I knew it wasn't mine. It was his. "I know you're probably mad at me or upset, but I'm really sorry. Please forgive me."

I knew Jetfire truly meant what he said since he'd never do something like that to me. He was just as scared and confused as I was about what just happened and he wanted to make amends for it. I had to forgive him. If the situation was in reverse (my face heated up at the thought) he would do the same for me.

"I forgive you." I told him. "It's just…we can't do that yet."

"I know…"

I got off the floor so I could grab a towel and placed it on top of the toilet that had the lid down.

"I'm going to take a shower. Maybe you can explain some things to me so I can understand what's going on."

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Jetfire stood next to the door outside the room Valerie just ran into not so long ago, only to hear the sound of water running a few minutes later that indicated that she was taking a shower. He clenched his fist as he mentally cursed at himself for what he did earlier. How could he do that to her? He agreed that he'd wait until she was older so that they could be together, but now he had just made the biggest mistake that could've most likely cost him to possibly lose her. As much as he wanted the years to fly by at the moment he couldn't make time speed up. And that frustrated him because he couldn't have her yet and he wouldn't be able to interface with her _until _she was older. She was still a child (a _sparkling_!) and he had almost forced her into doing something she wasn't even ready for!

If only she had been born a few years earlier.

A few years earlier.

Jetfire sat on the ground leaning his back against the wall before he looked down at his hands. He watched himself unclench them, turning them over as he observed the features that made him appear human to those who weren't aware of what he truly was: a transformer, Autobot, giant robot. He created his holoform so that it reflected his age if he were human and made himself appear as a 27 year old man. In this form he was able to feel so many things, down to even the tiniest thing such as the goosebumps that formed on his skin when he was cold. He had been surprised at how sensitive his sense of touch had gotten, along with his sense of taste. How was it that humans could handle this amount of sensitivity without going into total overload?

He smiled a small smile as he remembered how Valerie first reacted to seeing his holoform (thinking he was just another human that had come to see the performance she was in) until she realized it was actually him. She had been blushing when she realized she had been staring at him longer than one normally would and even after she knew it was him, she was nervous. He knew she found his holoform attractive and she acted like she did when they talked to each other for the first time in the rec room.

And it was with that thought that Jetfire's spark swelled as he came to a conclusion. She was his. She was his Skydancer. The fact that she accepted him and agreed to become his sparkmate once she was older was enough to put his processor at ease. Even if he had to wait for her to age he knew that his feelings for her would never change, if not grow stronger. He wasn't sure how many years it would take, but he had a feeling that she would be even more beautiful than she was now.

His beautiful Skydancer.

_**{Jetfire?}**_ He suddenly heard Valerie's voice in his processor and he felt relief.

'_What is it, Skydancer?_' He asked.

_**{I was thinking about some things ever since you told me…I was your sparkmate. Is it possible for you to help me understand what's going on between us?}**_

'_Depends on what you want to know._' He said jokingly before becoming serious. '_What do you know about sparkmates?_'

_**{I only know what you and Red Alert told me. Red Alert told me that a sparkmate was a spouse or literally a significant other and that becoming one's sparkmate was similar to marriage, but irreversible. And what you told me was that sparkmates are predetermined by Primus and that it could take millions of years before you'd even find them. I see it as being like soul mates, but on a more powerful and meaningful level.} **_

'_That's exactly it. It's like going around in life subconsciously searching for something and you're unsure of what it is you're looking for. It's only when you've finally found what you've been searching for that you realize how incomplete your life has been before you found it._'

Jetfire felt the sudden realization that Valerie felt from what he said.

_**{That's why I've always gazed up at the sky since I can remember! If what you say is true…then I've been looking for you this whole time.}**_

'_See? Even after you were born you were probably still searching. At least you didn't have to search for 70,000 years until now.' _Jetfire sighed. '_I remember my mother telling me before she passed on that I would find you someday, despite what I thought at that time. She…was right.'_

_**{But then…why was it that I was so comfortable around you, along with hearing your thoughts and feeling your emotions? Was it because I was your sparkmate?}**_

'_Yes and no. The thing is that when a transformer finds their sparkmate or meets them for the first time a link forms between them. This link is referred to as the engagement connection. At first the connection is dormant, but once enough time is spent between the two the connection starts to awaken and the would be couple start to respond to it. The fact that you feel comfortable around me, as well as us being able to talk to each other like we are now and transmit our emotions to each other, are all signs and characteristics of you responding to me and the engagement connection between us. As for what I said about you having gut instinct, it really wasn't._'

_**{It…wasn't gut instinct?} **_She asked.

'_Exactly. It was actually another side effect from the connection, but it was also the final sign that our connection had been fully awakened and established._' He ran a hand through his holoform's hair. '_I'm sorry I didn't tell you this earlier. I just…I was scared of how you might've reacted if I did._'

Jetfire felt warmth as Valerie sent her emotions through their connection and shivered from the sensation. Primus, he wanted her so badly, more than ever now. But he promised to wait, he reminded himself. But he could still show a minor level of affection, right? She could at least tolerate that much.

_**{It's okay. I would've probably done the same thing if I'd been in your shoes.}**_

'_Shoes? I don't wear shoes or need to unless I'm using my holoform._' He told her. What did shoes have to do with her conversation?

He smiled when he felt her mirth and could hear her laughing on the other side of the door.

_**{It's just a figure of speech, Jetfire.}**_

'_Like when you said that you had butterflies in your stomach when you meant you were nervous._'

_**{Yes. What I meant by what I said was that I would've done the same thing if I had been in your place or if I was the one in your position instead of you. Similar to our roles being reversed}**_

'_I see._'

_**{But what exactly is the engagement connection? I know you explained it to me, but I'm unsure if I understand it.}**_

'_Oh._' Jetfire scratched his head as he thought of how to explain the engagement connection. He quickly searched the internet (specifically wedding traditions and such) until he figured out what to tell her. '_The engagement connection is literally like what you humans refer to as engagement rings, except you can't return this one once the connection has been established. So you're basically engaged to me or my fiancée until we're bonded._'

_**{Bonded?}**_

'_Bonded, in human terms, meaning that we're married._' He stopped himself there since he was worried about telling her the rest about bonding.

_**{There's more to it, isn't there?}**_

'_Yeah, but I'm not sure if you want to hear it._'

_**{I want to know. It can't be that bad.}**_

'_Are you sure, Skydancer? This is your final warning._'

_**{I'm sure!}**_

Jetfire sighed.

'_Okay, don't say I didn't warn you. The thing about bonding is that it's completely different than just getting married. Instead of being done publicly it's done in seclusion between two would-be sparkmates. It's in that secluded location that they interface and become one._' By the time he finished his explanation he could feel his face warming up as his spark beat sped up to match his emotions. '_There! I practically gave you the G-rated Cybertronian version of the birds and bees!_'

He heard a loud _thump!_ on the other side of the door and laughed mentally to himself knowing that she stumbled before he heard the water shut off. He could feel that she was awkward from what he told her, and he knew that if he had been in her shoes (funny how he was using the human impression he learned not so long ago) he probably would've reacted in a similar manner. It was understandable since she had been used to the concept of traditional human marriages. Even the concept of divorce baffled him! He couldn't understand how someone could lose interest in their spouse and leave them just because the marriage between them didn't work out. It made him realize how different Cybertronians and humans were to each other.

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I had gotten Pjs (and everything else) back on since I didn't think of bringing a change of clothes with me before my shower. I still felt awkward that Jetfire told me about bonding (he did warn me). Apparently 'interfacing' meant the same thing as having sex with someone (as if his explanation didn't imply it after he last comment), and bonding meant that sparkmates get married _and _interface at the same time. Then that meant that this morning Jetfire was trying to…

'_Oh god…!_' I thought to myself, my eyes wide as my face got warm when I realized _why _Jetfire acted like he did.

He had been trying to bond with me, but got carried away; it didn't help that he had been desperately searching for me for the last 70,000 years and that had probably driven him (and his desire) to want to be with me. I wasn't sure if I should be happy or frightened, but I knew I couldn't run away or at least do so forever. In the past I've run away from my problems, but this something I couldn't run away from. I wasn't even sure if I _wanted _to run away from the fact I was engaged to Jetfire.

But then I remembered his reaction when I told him I couldn't be his sparkmate, the way that hopeful look in his gold eyes quickly changed to hurt from the painful rejection. And I wondered if what I felt afterwards was the same thing he felt when I was giving everyone the cold shoulder after seeing that horrifying vision Sideways gave me.

'_No more running._'

I decided it was time I left the bathroom and did so as I stepped back into my room. I suddenly felt a pair of arms warp around me before being pulled into a warm chest and I knew it was Jetfire who was holding me close. I felt my face heat up and shivered when he started placing kisses along the side of my neck, some of his holoform's dark reddish-brown hair brushing my cheek since he had to bend over a bit in order to do so due to his tall stature (I hated the fact I was short compared to him). It took all my willpower not to moan when he started nipping at my neck before placing a kiss over the spot he bit every time he did so. Eventually he stopped before pulling his face away, only to let out a small yelp in surprise when he started nibbling on my earlobe.

"Is this okay?" He ask quietly when he stopped, his warm breath blowing on me as he whispered into my ear. I thought about what he said and realized he meant his actions just now.

"Yeah." I replied quietly.

Surprisingly, I suddenly wanted more; I wanted him to continue what he was doing. I have never wanted anything so badly before until now. It was almost like I was craving it. Was this why Jetfire got carried away this morning?

I suddenly heard Jetfire chuckle quietly as if amused.

"You enjoyed it that much?" He suddenly asked.

"What?" I was confused.

"You do realize that I can hear your thoughts unintentionally if you're not careful. Although I do enjoy the fact that you liked what I did."

My face heated up in embarrassment from the fact that Jetfire heard what I was thinking. How was I supposed to know that he would pick up on those?

"That's what you get when you transmit your thoughts like that. Plus I get some blackmail."

"You'd actually blackmail me?" I asked, completely shocked.

"Weeelll, you never know. It could be useful on _my _part for a few good reasons. But for now no, I wouldn't blackmail you."

Suddenly I felt pain rush into my head and I could hear the concern in Jetfire's voice as he asked me what was wrong.

_My vision faded to black as his voice faded until I couldn't hear it. I tried blinking to see if it would clear up my vision, but no luck. I looked down at my hands and my eyes widened at the fact that I could see them! Then that mean-!_

_**{Missed me?} **_

_I could've sworn my blood went cold as I hear _his _voice right behind me. It didn't help that he wrapped his arms around my waist and neck like he did last time. _

_**{I told you that I would return, sweet Valerie.} **__He chuckled darkly. __**{And I see you've finally learned about your connection with that Autobot. It's a pity that he has to wait until you're older before he can even think of bonding with you. You can't imagine the pleasure one experiences from interfacing.}**_

_Suddenly I felt the around my waist unwrap itself as Sideways' hand slowly traveled downward and my eyes widened in panic and I desperately started to struggle. He merely chuckled before my body stiffened and, to my horror, I found out that I was unable to move at all! There was nothing I could do to stop him as his hand continued making it's way south, only to have it stop on a certain spot between my legs. Even though I was still in my Pjs I could still feel his hand through the cloth of my pants._

"_S-Stop!" I begged in desperation as I started crying. I tried shutting my eyes to stop them from falling, but it didn't work. "P-Please don't!"_

_**{That's right. You're scared. You're hoping that your Autobot in shining armor will come and save you, but it won't matter once I'm done.}**_

_**{VALERIE!}**_

_My eyes shot open and I was shocked to see Jetfire standing in front of me a few yards away from where Sideways and I stood. What surprised me even more was that he was in his true form, but human size like Sideways. Was he really here or was this merely an illusion that Sideways created like all the other times I've been here? I looked at his face to see his gold optics wide in horror as he saw what the Decepticon was doing to me, only for them to narrow into a glare as I hear him give off a feral growl that even intimidated me._

_**{You…!} **__Jetfire growled menacingly. I had a feeling that if his gold face plate hadn't been hiding his mouth his lips would've been curled back as he bared his teeth at Sideways._

_Sideways chuckled darkly._

_**{So glad you could join us.}**__ He said. __**{After all, you're the one who's constantly been on this little femme's beautiful processor.}**_

_**{Shut up, you slagging pit born GLITCH!}**__ I would've jumped if I had been able to move when Jetfire yelled/growled in rage. It sounded so animalistic that I felt a chill go down my spine. I've never seen this side of Jetfire before and…it frightened me. __**{Let her go NOW!}**_

_**{My, so possessive of her. How does it feel, Jetfire, to know that I'm about to claim the femme that rightfully belongs to you, your sparkmate?}**_

_As if to prove his point Sideways pressed his hand closer to my opening, causing me to whimper. This only seemed to fuel Jetfire's anger._

_**{I said LET HER GO!}**_

_Jetfire started charging at Sideways (or us) with the intention of saving me. That quickly change since he was only a bit away from being within arms length when he crumpled to the ground screaming in pain. He was breathing heavily as I saw the pained look in his optics that mixed with the anger and I was painfully reminded of when I saw him die in my vision._

_**{You fragging virus!} **__Jetfire growled as he tried to get up, but ended up screaming again as the pain being inflicted on his halted his efforts of movie. _

_Sideways laughed._

_**{To think I would take the one thing from her that you stupidly chose to wait for once she was old enough. Humans and their customs. It's what's holding her back and stopping you from getting what you truly desire.}**_

_Sideways moved his hand up before slipping it into my pants and underwear so that it was placed over my opening. My eyes were wide in horror and a few tears escaped my eyes as I realized that he was going to rape me in front of Jetfire as he was being forced to watch. I tried reaching out to him through our connection, but there was nothing there. It was like it never existed in the first place. I didn't know what emotions he was experiencing. Was he terrified for what was about to happen to me? Was he angry at Sideways? I looked up at his optics and I could see that they were wide as he gazed at us, gazed at me. I could tell that he wanted to do something to stop Sideways, but if he tried to he would only be inflicted with more pain._

_I felt Sideways' fingers start to slowly stroke and rub my vulva and I shuddered involuntarily as a huge WARNING sign seemed to go off in my mind. I bit my lip to suppress the moan that wanted to escape and despite how much I hated to admit it, it was turning me on. The sensation of his metal fingers touching me felt so foreign, but the fact that he was the one doing it felt wrong and extremely uncomfortable. Jetfire was supposed to be the one doing this to me, not Sideways! I gasped when he suddenly inserted two of his metal fingers inside me and I started crying in pain as he slowly slid them in and out of me. I shut my eyes tightly in a futile attempt to stop the tears from falling and I hung my head as I started to breathe heavily._

"_Please! If there's any compassion inside you at all, please stop! I'm beg you." I cried pitifully in desperation._

_Sideways chuckled lowly and I felt him bring his face closer to my ear._

_**{That's the thing, sweet Valerie.} **__He told me. __**{There is none.}**_

_Sideways slid his fingers out before suddenly thrusting them back in quickly and roughly, causing me to scream from the pain as he continued to do so and his actions only got harder, faster, and forceful with each passing second. This wasn't supposed to happen! This wasn't how I wanted it to end! Everything was fine this morning; how did it change from being peaceful and happy to this living nightmare that I couldn't wake up from?_

"_JETFIRE!"_

_**{Valerie! You monster! Stop it! You're hurting her!} **__I heard Jetfire yell._

_**{Just try and stop me, Autobot. Oh, that's right, you can't. There's nothing you can do to save her. So pitiful.}**__ He laughed as he continued his actions to the point that the pain was unbearable. __**{You should've taken her when you had the chance. She's unbelievably tight for her age, but that's to be expected when your sparkmate is only a virgin. It's completely **_**exhilarating**_**.}**_

_I started feeling light headed and all I could think about was the intense pain that I was experiencing as Sideways' metal fingers thrust in and out of me mercilessly; it was as if he not only got pleasure from what he was doing to me, but also from causing me pain which only seemed to encourage him to continue sadistically. My breathing was shallow and I cried out a few times. I just wanted it all to end. _

_I screamed out in pain when his fingers were roughly pulled out of me as if someone pulled him away from me. I collapsed until I was sprawled on the ground. My body was completely sore and I was in so much pain right now. _

_**{Valerie…!} **_

_I felt a metallic hand caress my cheek, followed by someone gathering me in their arms before being held close to their chest protectively. I hesitantly opened my eyes to see who it was, and as soon as I saw the Autobot symbol on their white chest I burst into tears and clung onto them desperately since I knew it was Jetfire. I felt him place a hand behind my head, weaving his metal finger through my hair as if to soothe me. _

_**{Oh, Valerie… My beautiful Skydancer…} **__He breathed out, his voice almost sounding like he wanted to cry, but I knew he was holding them back like the time he told me about Astera._

_At the thought of Astera my eyes shot open wide._

"_W-what happened?" I was surprised at how horrible my voice sounded after all the screaming I did._

_**{I don't know. Some ball of light appeared out of nowhere and managed to get you away from Sideways. Wait…is that a spark?}**_

_I turned around to see what Jetfire was talking about and my mouth fell open when I saw that it was Astera's spark floating in front of Sideways. His pink optics were narrow as he glared at it._

_**{You…meddling femme!} **__Sideways said darkly. __**{I should've destroyed you the last time you intervened.}**_

_**{You can't destroy something that's already offlined. You of all people should know that.} **__Her voice said cryptically._

_I felt Jetfire's hold on me tighten slightly as he seemed to tense and I looked at his face to see that his gold optics were wide in shock. _

_**{N-no…! I-it can't be…!} **_

_I must've zoned out for a bit since the next think I knew Astera's spark was floating in front of use before it formed into her appearance like last time. And I realized that Sideways was gone, too._

_**{Mom…! Is it…is it really you…?} **__Jetfire asked, unsure if she was really there._

_**{It is.}**__ She said calmly before coming closer and kneeling down beside us. I watched as she smiled before placing a hand on his gold face mask where his cheek would've been if it hadn't been hidden. __**{My little Jetfire. You've grown so much since I last saw you. Even your father is proud of you.}**_

_**{What's there to be proud of?} **__I was surprised by how angsty his voice sounded. Sure I've seen him sad before, but this? This was something I never saw coming. And there was also that same tone that told me that he wanted to cry. I wouldn't blame him; he hadn't seen Astera in 70,000 years. Wounds heal over time, but they could also be reopened as well. That was the impression I was getting. __**{I barely even remember him. I couldn't even save you from dying all because of those Decepticons that invaded our home! A-and I almost lost my sparkmate to **_**him**_**! How could any of you be proud of **_**that**_**!} **__I could hear the bitterness mix with his angst._

"_Jetfire…" I said quietly. I felt a few tears fall from my eyes. "Stop blaming yourself. It wasn't your fault."_

_Jetfire turned his head to gaze at me with his gold optics and I could see such a sad and remorseful look in them; this look made the rejected look that he gave me last night seem like it was nothing. Before my eyes wasn't Jetfire, the confident Vice Commander of the Autobots and my future husband/sparkmate; before my eyes was Jetfire, the broken soldier who had lost everything to an ongoing war that had started long before he was even born and suffered 70,000 years worth of pain and sadness. This broken soldier wasn't the Jetfire I knew (and if anything he was only a stranger to me), but his past self that still lingered during the time of Astera's death and was unable to move on despite how much he wanted to. And I realized that this was the part that he had tried so hard to hide from everyone, from the world, from me. This broken soldier of the past…no longer knew where to go. He was lost. I started crying, unable to hold back the tears. _

_**{Valerie…}**_

_**{She's right, Jetfire.} **__Astera said, causing him to turn to look at her. __**{Remember when Optimus got hurt while protecting her? She blamed herself despite the fact when you told her it wasn't her fault. You helped her move one, now it's time for you to allow your sparkmate to help you as well.}**_

_**{But…but how?}**_

_At this Astera smiled a loving smile._

_**{In time you will know.} **__She turned to me and gave me such a kind smile. __**{See? I told you that my son truly cared about you, Valerie.}**_

_**{What?} **__I looked at Jetfire to see that his eyes were wide. __**{You two already met each other before?}**_

"_Yes, but-"_

_**{Why didn't you tell me?}**_

_**{Because you probably wouldn't have believe her. And even if you did, you probably would've reacted the same way you did when you saw me appear.}**__ Astera explained. __**{But now that you two are together, I can officially call her… What's the phrase humans use? Oh, yes! Daughter-in-law!}**_

_I felt my face heat up slightly. Even if we _are _sparkmates and haven't been together for long, Astera already considered me her daughter-in-law. And we weren't even _married!

_**{Mom!} **__Jetfire complained. But that soon changed when Astera started to fade away. __**{Mom!}**_

_**{It looks like my time's up for being here.} **__She said, smiling sadly._

_**{Don't go! There's so much I need to talk about with you!}**_

_**{I'm sorry. I'm only capable of communicating with anyone living for a certain amount of time. The same could go for your father as well.} **__At this Jetfire's eyes widened in surprise. __**{I know you and your sparkmate will be happy with each other, my little Jetfire.}**_

_With that Astera faded away, leaving Jetfire and I to be the only ones in this place. I turned to look at Jetfire, only to find myself behind held tightly to him, giving me the impression that if he were to let go I would suddenly disappear. He nuzzled the crook of my neck with his face mask, causing my face to warm up._

_**{I'm sorry, Skydancer! I'm sorry that I couldn't stop Sideways from…from violating you like that! Even if he didn't take your virginity away, it still happened!}**__ Jetfire said. __**{I-I was scared that he was going to take the one person that still mattered to me!}**_

"_I was scared too… And you were forced to watch." I said quietly. Some tears fell from my eyes as I remembered the horrifying experience. "I was saving myself for you!"_

_**{Shh… It's okay. He didn't take you. You're still able to save yourself for me.} **__Jetfire's vibrating face mask tickled me, but I wasn't in the mood for laughing. He pulled his face away so that he was gazing at me, love and some other emotion I couldn't discern flashing in his gold optics. __**{I want you to close your eyes.}**_

"_Why?" I felt confused._

_**{Please do it.}**_

_I complied, closing my eyes as I waited for whatever was going to happen next. I felt some sort of cloth being placed against my eyes and I realized I was being blindfolded. _

"_Jetfire, what are you-?"_

_I suddenly felt warm metallic lips capture mine in a kiss that started out slow and passionate before becoming deeper and hungry. I felt arms encircle me, pulling me closer to a firm form as something slick slid across my bottom lip. I parted my lips slightly and I felt a tongue enter my mouth, exploring every part of my mouth before stroking my tongue. A shiver ran down my spine and I moaned quietly as I felt a warm metallic hand slip under my shirt to rub lazy circles on my back. The lips kissing me pulled away and I felt them being placed on the crook of my neck and started biting and kissing a trail up and down._

"_Jetfire…" I moaned in pleasure. _

_My mind started to feel fuzzy and it was hard for me to think straight. The pleasure I felt clouded my mind to the point that I wasn't even aware of the fact that my shirt or pants were being taken off with my undergarments following. I was guided onto my back until I was laying down and I shivered as a smooth metal surface made contact with my skin as it climbed on top of me. I felt those metallic lips capture mine again, a low growl emanating from the back of his throat as he kissed me roughly and hungrily. Even though I couldn't see anything I let my hands wander the form on top of me, my fingers brushing the surface of a bulky chest until I came to what I assumed was their back. My hand moved across a flat span which resulted in Jetfire pulling his lips away and letting out a metallic sounding moan before slamming his hips into mine in a rhythmic motion, the jagged edges digging into my skin._

_**{Sky…dancer…!} **__He hissed, his voice sounding strained as he spoke. __**{Ugh! That feels good!}**_

_He continued slamming and grinding his hips into mine, all the while grunting and moaning as he sped up and came down hard. I felt his hands started to wander, each one grabbing a hold of my breasts before I felt his metallic lips latch onto a nipple and started sucking, biting, and curling his tongue around it, his other hand fiddled with the other one which he pinched and rolled between two fingers. I moaned loudly as my back arched up in response to his stimulating actions. But then I suddenly realized what Jetfire was doing and started to panic as I became aware of the fact that I was naked! My heart started to beat faster in fear as I was painfully reminded of what happened earlier!_

"_No! Stop!" I cried out in fear. _

_I started to struggle against Jetfire and tried to push him away from me, but he merely grabbed both of my wrist in one hand with a vice-like grip before pinning them down above my head in order to restrain them. I continued thrashing in a futile attempt to stop him._

_**{Stop struggling! You need to understand that I'm doing this for **_**your**_** own good, Valerie!} **__He growled. __**{After what Sideways did to you today, waiting for you to grow up isn't an option anymore! Having you bond with me now is the only way I can fully protect you from him!}**_

_Jetfire used his free hand to spread my legs apart before he started fingering me with his metal fingers. He did something on one place and whatever it was he was doing sent a warm wave of intense pleasure throughout my body. After awhile he inserted a finger inside me and I whimpered in pain as he slowly slid in and out. Eventually Jetfire inserted another finger in and continued his actions while gradually speeding up until he was thrusting deeply into me roughly and forcibly._

"_Jetfire!" I pleaded, the blindfold over my eyes now being soaked from all the crying I was doing. "Please…stop! It hurts! There's so much pain!"_

_**{I know, Skydancer.} **__He told me in what he assumed was a soothing tone. I didn't miss the fact that his voice was husky. __**{I know it hurt, but you gotta hang in there. This is something that has to be done.}**_

_Some time passed when I suddenly felt something building up and I squirmed slightly, my heart seeming to beat faster and my breathing becoming heavier as I would moan a few times. I started feeling light headed and before I knew it this intense mix of heat and pleasure exploded throughout my body as I felt myself tighten around Jetfire's fingers. He seemed to moan quietly before pulling his metal fingers out completely. I didn't know what he was doing, but I could feel the slight movement coming from his arm as he restrained my hands. _

_**{It's almost over. Just a little longer.} **__I started crying again as I whimpered, knowing what was possible coming next._

"_You're no better than Sideways…" I suddenly found myself saying._

_Jetfire seemed to tense up from what I said and he released his hold my wrists. I curled into myself, tears escaping my eyes and soaking the blindfold as I realized how painfully sore I was. It hurt to move and I wished the pain would just go away. I suddenly felt him wrap his metal arms around me before pulling me close to his chest. Despite everything he did to me just now I didn't want to pull away. If anything I found myself seeking comfort from him._

_**{I'm so sorry, Skydancer.} **__He said, and I could hear that he was genuinely sorry. __**{I shouldn't…I shouldn't have done that to you or rushed things. I was just so terrified by what Sideways did to you that I became completely protective and forgot all about our promise.} **__He tightened his hold on me and I heard him let out a shaky breath.__** {I'm sorry I hurt you! Please forgive me! I don't want this to ruin our relationship, what we've worked so hard to obtain up to this point.} **__I was surprised when he suddenly started trembling. __**{Please don't leave me! I don't want to be alone! You're all I have left in this universe!}**_

_I couldn't help but feel sorry for Jetfire. He had been scared of losing me and it didn't help that Sideways egged him on to do what he did in a desperate attempt to keep me safe. I wrapped my arms around him in order to comfort him, feeling him tense up slightly in surprise._

"_It's okay." I told him quietly in a soothing tone. "I forgive you."_

_I heard Jetfire sigh._

_**{You're something special. I almost **_**raped **_**you, for Primus' sakes! Something like that isn't exactly easy to forgive. And yet here you are forgiving me.}**_

"_You did it because you were scared."_

_I pulled my arms away and reached behind my head to undo the knot holding the blindfold in place. Jetfire suddenly grabbed my wrists with his hands to stop me._

_**{Don't take it off!}**_

"_Why? I want to see your face, Jetfire."_

_**{That's exactly why. I…don't want you to see it yet, not until I know for sure that I'm ready to show you.}**_

"_I didn't think you could be so mysterious."_

_**{I try. But just like you were trying to save yourself for me, I'm trying to save my face for you so that you can to see it. So for now keep your eyes covered}**_

_Jetfire pressed his metallic lips to mine as he kissed me slowly. He pulled me closer to him, prying my mouth open and stuck his tongue inside as he deepened the kiss. I moaned quietly as I enjoyed the kiss. He pulled away to allow me time to breathe. _

_**{I love you...}**_

_He then captured my lips again as he resumed kissing me. Our tongues danced with each other and I heard him growl softly, which caused me to shiver slightly. I wrapped my arms around his chest and my hands met the two flat metal surfaces on his back (I realized that they were his wings). I brushed my hands along the span and I was surprised when he shuddered uncontrollably, followed by him growling before pulling away to let out a loud moan._

_**{Skydancer…! Stop…!} **__Jetfire warned, his voice sounding strained from the effort. __**{Keep this up and I won't be able to control what I do next…!}**_

_I immediately stopped and jerked my hands away from his wings. _

"_Why did you respond like that?" I asked._

_**{A flyer's wings are the most sensitive part of their body, as in really,**_** really **_**sensitive. If you hadn't stopped when you did, I could've lost control of myself. I could've taken you right here and now and I wouldn't stop until I completely overloaded.**_

"_You mean by overload you meant…"_

_**{Yes, sweetspark, overloading is the Cybertronian equivalent of having an orgasm.} **_

_I felt my face heat up slightly as I realized that I had been arousing him. I heard the sound of metal clinking together before I felt the blindfold come off. I blinked a few times and looked up to see Jetfire gazing at me with his gold optics, his face mask now covering his face. I freaked out when I suddenly realized I was naked and tried to cover myself with my arms in embarrassment. Jetfire wrapped his arms around me before I was pulled close to his metal chest._

_**{There's really no point in trying to cover yourself up now. I've already seen what you look like.} **__He told me._

"_It still doesn't get rid of the embarrassment I feel…"_

_**{Hey, don't worry about it. You're beautiful. And when you get older you'll be even more beautiful.} **__He chuckled quietly. __**{But let's focus on getting out of here. I don't know about you, but seeing the same thing all around me is starting to get boring.}**_

I found myself opening my eyes to find that I was back in my room as Jetfire's holoform held me close to him. To my relief I found that I was still in my Pjs. He tilted my head back before kissing me. The kiss abruptly ended when my legs suddenly felt weak and I was lowered to the floor.

"I guess everything you've been through has taken its toll on your body." Jetfire said. "Okay, let's get you to bed."

Jetfire scooped me up in his arms before making his way over to my bed. He carefully placed me on top of it before climbing in so that he could lay beside me before bringing me close to him. I sighed, remembering what happened. Even if Jetfire had tried to rape me and caused me pain in the process there was something about it that I liked. Was it because of all the pleasure I felt from everything he did?

"Well, aren't you kinky?" Jetfire said jokingly. He chuckled and I felt my face heated up as I realized he had heard my thoughts. "Get some rest, kiddo."

I complied, closing my eyes as I snuggled into his warm chest.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire watched as Valerie fell asleep. She was put through so much today and it didn't help that she was almost raped twice, once by Sideways (while he was forced to watch), followed by himself. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy it, and that was what made him feel guilty. He shouldn't have forced her into doing something she wasn't ready for and the fact that that _virus _could easily claim her as his own only fueled his anger and fear. What if something like this were to happen again and he wasn't around to try and stop him? No! He shouldn't be thinking about that right now. All that mattered now was that she was safe. He couldn't help but think back on what happened with him and his sparkmate.

_He had blindfold her so that she wouldn't see his face and, to a certain extent, know what he was doing. He noticed how she seemed to get a little impatient as his face mask retracted to reveal his face; she had started asking what he was doing, but he didn't let her finish and interrupted her by capturing her lips with his. It was strange how his mouth plates seemed to mold together with hers, along with the way her organic flesh felt on his metal skin. It was different, but in a _really _good way. He started by kissing her slow and passionate as he worked his way up to deepening it in his hunger. He wrapped his arms around her small form and pulled her closer to him before running his glossa along her bottom lip; as soon as her mouth plates parted he eagerly entered, feeling his way around the inside to familiarize himself before coming to stroke her glossa. He slipped his hand underneath the shirt of (what humans referred to as) her Pjs and rubbed lazy circles on her back, causing her to shiver and hear her moan quietly. He pulled his face away from her and went for her neck, kissing and biting his way up and down to stimulate her. _

_Nothing prepared him to hear the lovely sound of his sparkmate moaning his name from the pleasure she was experiencing. It turned him on and seemed to intoxicate him like high grade energon. What he would give to hear her say his name like that again!_

_With Valerie distracting he started unbuttoning the front of her shirt (why in the world would Pj shirts need buttons?), slipping them off before throwing them aside; her pants met the same fate as her shirt. He was surprised to find that her breasts and lower region were covered with these strange undergarment (a bra and underwear, as the humans called them). He reached behind her back to unhook the bra before slipping it off and tossing it away, followed by her underwear which he had to slip carefully down her legs in order to remove them. As soon as he finished removing every article of clothing he return his optics to Valerie and allowed his gaze to roam hungrily over her now naked body with nothing restraining her breast or her interface port between her legs. Her form had a bit of a curve to it, showing that she wasn't a child, yet not a woman at the same time, her skin looking smooth due to her young age. He could feel his interface rod start to swell against his interface plating as he took in every detail of her body, an animalistic urge fueled by lust and desire invading his processor. She was beautiful…and she was his!_

_He slowly guided her so that she was laying down on her back and he didn't miss how her body shivered as his metal form touched her skin while she was pinned underneath him. He quickly claimed her human lips with his again and he let loose a low growl in the back of his throat while he roughly kissed her in his hunger. He felt her soft hands roaming the metal surface of his chest plate until he felt them on his back. His breathing hitched when he felt her slowly stroking his wings, causing him to jerk away from kissing her and a moan escaped his lips as he felt his rod swell uncomfortably from the arousing stimulation. It was driving him _crazy!_ He started slamming his hips down on hers, coming back up before slamming down again with some of his metal parts digging into her skin. His voice was strained from the intense pleasure he felt as he hissed her name out. Primus! It felt so amazing and exhilarating! The combination of intense pleasure, lust, and desire was overwhelming! He had never felt anything like this in his entire life and he was addicted to it! He wanted…no, NEEDED more! So he continued slamming his hips down on her before grinding and thrusting them into hers. His cooling fans switched on, his spark humming wildly in his spark chamber, as he started speeding up and coming down with more force, moaning and grunting while his throbbing rod rubbed up against his plating, and he so desperately wanted to rub it against her interface port _instead! _His hands wandered to her breasts before his lips latched onto one of the nipples, sucking, biting and curling his tongue around the aroused node while he pinched the other one between his two fingers and slowly twisted it. She moaned loudly from arousing her further before she arched her back up in pleasure. _

_But everything changed when her voice crying out in fear before she started struggling against him and trying to push him away. He wasn't going to have that! Not when he was so close! He grabbed her wrists in one hand and held them tight before pinning them above her head to restrain her, but that didn't stop her from thrashing. He growled at her, telling her to stop struggling. He had to make her understand that he _had _to do this and it was for her own good. He used his free hand to spread her legs apart before fingering her interface port, instinct driving him to stroke and fiddle with her external node. He kept this up for a few minutes before inserting his index finger inside her, ignoring her whimpers of pain as he slowly slid in and out of her wet port. He was surprised at how _tight _she was and this only served to drive him insane with pleasure. He soon inserted another finger inside, sliding in until his metal fingers were completely sheathed inside her and sliding out before repeating the process over. He kept this up, gradually building up speed until he was thrusting his fingers deep inside her roughly and forcibly. He heard her voice pleading for him to stop and he could tell that she was crying from all the pain she was experiencing. He tried speaking in a soothing tone, his voice husky, as he told her to hold on._

_He continued thrusting into her and after awhile he started feeling her squirm from underneath him. He could tell that she was aroused since she started panting and moaning. His rod was throbbing (to the point that it was just as uncomfortable as the swelling) when he felt her tighten around his fingers and he knew that she had overloaded for the first time. He moaned quietly from the sensation before pulling his fingers out of her completely, bringing them up to his lips before licking the lubricants on them. It was time for him to claim his sparkmate as his own. He removed the plating that covered his interface rod and using his free hand he situated his swollen erection near her interface port. He assured her that it was almost over, only to be met with her crying and whimpering. He could feel himself throbbing in excitement! He knew what was to come after this! They would be bonded to each other for life!_

"_You're no better than Sideways…"_

_He tensed up from her word as he painfully became aware of what he was doing. All the intense emotions he had felt earlier died down as guilt and shame settled into his spark and processor. He released his hold on her wrists and he watched with wide optics as his sparkmate curled into a fetal position, along with hearing her quietly sobbing. He had done this to her! This wasn't what she wanted. He promised her that he'd wait until she was older to do something like this, but now there she was in front of him seeming to be a personification of the consequences from what he did to her. _

_He had taken advantage of her._

_He had almost _raped _her._

_He wrapped his arms around her small fragile body before holding her close to him in order to comfort her. He did the only thing he could do now. He apologized. He spilled his thoughts out to her as the grief he felt started to get stronger, and then dread set in. What if she didn't _forgive _him? What if this ruined their relationship that they worked so hard to obtain up to this point? What if she _left _him! He held her tightly as if he were to let go she would disappear forever before letting out a shaky breath. He didn't want to be alone! He had been alone for 70,000 years after his mother died. He started trembling and almost felt like crying. He couldn't afford to lose the last thing that mattered to him the most! He couldn't afford to lose his last reason to continue living! This was all Sideways' fault! None of this would've happened if that virus hadn't tried to rape his sparkmate! He tensed up in surprise when he felt Valerie wrap her arms around him as if she were trying to comfort him. His optics widened from what she said next._

_She forgave him._

_He let out a sigh. He expected her to be mad at him! Any normal person would be mad in this situation. And yet here she was, forgiving him for almost _raping _her! Something like that wasn't easy to forgive. She was something special, he told her._

"_You did it because you were scared."_

_His spark sped up slightly at her words. He watched as she pulled her arms away and reached behind her head to undo the knot that kept the blindfold in place. He slightly panicked before grabbing her wrists to stop her. He didn't want her to take it off. I want to see your face, she told him. He didn't want her to see his face yet, not until he was ready to do so. He almost laughed when she told him that he was mysterious. He never considered himself the mysterious type, but he couldn't help but smirk. For now she would have to keep her eyes covered._

_He pressed his metal lips to hers and kissed her slowly. He pulled her closer to him, reveling in the fact that he could feel her soft naked body pressed up against him. He pried her mouth plates open and stuck his glossa inside to deepen the kiss, and he heard the quiet moan she made as she enjoyed the kiss. He pulled away, allowing her to breathe. I love you, he had told her, before capturing her lips again to resume kissing her. Their glossas danced with each other and he growled softly, causing her to shiver slightly. Her arms wrapped around his chest and before he knew it he felt her running her hands along his wings. He shuddered uncontrollably, his interface rod that had be placed back into his interface chamber started to swell up in his arousal and throb painfully against the plate covering it. He growled before pulling away and letting out a loud moan from the intense pleasure that she wasn't aware of giving him._

_He told her to stop in a warning tone, but his voice was strained from the effort to control himself as she continued to stroke his wings. If she kept this up he wouldn't be able to stop himself from what he was _extremely _tempted to do to her. To his relief she stopped and jerked her hands away from his wings._

"_Why did you respond like that?"_

_And he told her about the sensitivity of a flyer's wings. That if she hadn't stopped stroking his wings when she did, he would've lost control of himself, take her right then and there, and would stop until he completely overloaded from his arousal. His explanation made her realize what the term overload meant. In other words, he would've had an orgasm. Her face turned red when she realized that she had been arousing him just by stroking his wings. His gold face mask came back to cover his face before he took the blindfold off of Valerie. She blinked a few times before her blue eyes looked at him as his gold optics gazed at her. _

_She freaked out when she realized that she was still naked before trying to cover herself by wrapping her arms around her body. He could tell that she was embarrassed by the fact that he was seeing her body without anything on. He wrapped his arms around her before holding her close to his metal chest, hoping that it would help calm her down by giving her some decency. There was no point in trying to cover herself up since he had already seen the beauty of what she looked like. But in the end she was still embarrassed that he saw her. Apparently all humans were like this when it came to being naked. He told her not to worry, that she was beautiful, and that when she was older she would be even more beautiful. He chuckled. Was it just him, or was he being cliché? _

So now here he was watching his beautiful sparkmate as she slept peacefully in his arms like all the events of today had never happened. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. He couldn't help but smile when she sighed in content before scooting closer to him.

His beautiful Skydancer…

Jetfire started humming the Cybertronian Lullaby, and he couldn't help but remember the words to the song that his mother used to sing to him when he was a sparkling.

_Beyond the sun  
__Beyond the moon  
__There are the stars  
__In the night sky_

_Beyond the skies  
__Among the stars  
__In quiet wait  
__Home Cybertron_

_Rest in peace  
__In my embrace  
__And listen to this lullaby_

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ATE: Well, that wraps up chap 12 of this story! Just so you know I actually made up the lyrics for the Cybertronian Lullaby, while the tune for the song itself is actually the track Infinite White from the Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen score by Steve Jablonsky (which I don't _own_), playing at 1:20-2:39. Please remember to review and tell me what you think! And any ideas you want to throw my way, I'm all ears...err eyes! Yeah! Eyes! Don't worry! I'll give you all credit for your ideas! ;D


	13. Severed

ATE: Oh, Primus! This is what happens when I haven't updated this story in so long. I end up making what is officially the longest chapter in this story to date, and it's a total of 19,213 words that spanned over 44 pages in word processor. I feel like I owed everyone this much due to not updating in a month. I'd like to thank **Crystalmaiden62**, **Diamond White**, **Bumblebeecamaro38**, **Sally**, **Kimi-chan is a cat witch**, **Manderss.x.x**, **the rather bashful kid**, and **the kid** for their reviews. I'd also like to thank **Diamond White** and **Mistress Megatron **for the ideas they gave me to use in this chapter and I hope everyone likes this chapter. Also, for those who have read my other story Astera, you'll notice some references to that story in this chapter. Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, Lion King 2, or Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I only own my OC Valerie.

WARNING: There is a use of colorful language and other things in this chapter. And some characters will be OOC at a few points in this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 13: Severed

I sat in class listening to the teacher's lecture. Actually I wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying at all since my thoughts were somewhere else. I couldn't help but think of what happened two days ago.

_It was that same day when I was almost raped by Sideways inside my mind (along with that incident with Jetfire) that I had found myself waking up in Jetfire's arms again. He had smiled lovingly at me before giving me a chaste kiss, which I returned gratefully. It turned out that I hadn't been asleep for more than a few hours, but I felt better than I did when I fell asleep. I suddenly felt like doing something and I tried to think of what I could do, especially since my sparkmate (it felt weird to call Jetfire that) was with me. So far I couldn't come up with anything._

"_Well, what is it that _you_ like to do, Skydancer?" Jetfire suddenly asked._

_I stared at him, wondering why he said that before realizing something._

"_Oh, right. I forgot you could hear my thoughts." I told him sheepishly._

"_With the way you were thinking, it was kinda hard not to." He chuckled. "But back to my question: what do you like doing?"_

_I thought of all the things I liked doing. There was reading, video games (I don't play them that much though), watching TV, listening to music, singing-_

"_I didn't know you liked singing." _

"_I do, but I get too nervous when it comes to singing in front of people." I blushed, averting my gaze away from his face._

_Back to my thoughts. There was also dancing, but I wasn't sure if that would be easy for Jetfire._

"_I know how much you like dancing, so why not?"_

"_Y-you'd actually do that?" I asked, looking up at his face in surprise._

"_As long as it's something you like to do then it's fine by me. I'm guessing downstairs would be the best option?"_

"_Yeah."_

_Jetfire unwrapped his arms from around me and pulled away so he could sit up. He suddenly gathered me in his arms and before I knew it he was carrying me out of my room bridal style. I felt my face heat up with the position I was in and I couldn't help but wonder if he was always going to do this even after we're bonded._

"_Depends on if you want me to or not, Skydancer." He said._

"_Why are you always carrying me when you're using your holoform?" I asked._

"_I guess it's because I've been so used to carrying you around in my true form, so it feels natural. Plus I like being able to hold you like this now that I have a way of doing so."_

"_In other words, old habits die hard."_

"_But it's an old habit I wouldn't mind keeping." _

_I sighed before snuggling closer to him and placing my head on his shoulder._

"_You're warm. It feels nice." I suddenly found myself saying._

"_That was a little random on your part, but a compliment is a compliment." He joked._

_We soon arrived downstairs in the living room. Jetfire let me down so that I was standing before going over to the boom box in the room. I started looking through the CDs for something suitable for dancing._

"_You're okay with some music, right?"_

"_It'd be hard to dance without any."_

"_Apparently that's a 'yes'." I glanced at him to see him nod. I froze as I suddenly realized something._

"_What's wrong?" Jetfire asked._

"_I don't know what kind of dancing you know. It doesn't help that I don't know anything else besides ballet."_

"_Out of all the things to worry about, you're worried about that? I could always lead if you want me to."_

_I was surprised. Jetfire knew how to dance? AND he was offering to lead?_

"_T-thanks…" I told him, turning back to face the boom box as my face heated up._

_I felt nervous and excited at the same time. I managed to find a CD with some orchestral music before putting it in and pressing play. Soft music filtered through the air as I slowly turned around to face Jetfire and I watched as he held his hand out to me, a soft smile on his face as he gazed at me with those gold eyes of his. I placed my hand in his and was soon pulled close to him, both his hands guiding mine so that they were placed on his shoulders before he placed his on my waist. I felt my face heat up again. True to his word Jetfire took the lead as we slowly swayed to the music and it was only then that I realized we were slow dancing._

"_See? It's not so hard, is it?" Jetfire asked._

"_It isn't." I agreed. "Where did you learn to dance?"_

"_On Cybertron, but to be more specific it was during the first 20,000 years I spent training and fighting. Apparently it's required for recruits to know how to dance." Jetfire seemed to make a face as he seemed to recall something. "Not exactly a day I'll be able to forget even if I tried."_

"_What happened?" I was so curious to know why he said that._

"_There weren't that many femme recruits so some of us ended up having mech partners to dance with. Unfortunately, I ended up being one of them. I was paired up with this blue mech named Side Burn, and worse thing of all is that he kept going on about how he absolutely _loved_ the color of my helm. I think he liked the color red a little _too_ much." _

"_I can see why it wasn't so eventful for you. Was it possible that he was…you know…gay?"_

"_How would I know? I couldn't tell from just that incident. Unless he's hiding something."_

_I never thought Jetfire would be good at dancing, but I couldn't complain._

"_Is it weird that I had a dream of you singing Mustang Sally?" I asked nervously._

"_What? Mustang Sally?" He asked, seeming confused._

"_You can look it up." My face started getting warm._

_Jetfire was quiet and his eyes seemed to have a far off look. After awhile he shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and his eyes focused on me._

"_I was singing _that?_ What was going on in that dream in the first place?"_

"_Everyone was at the base and it looked like we were having a party or something. Then I saw that you had a giant microphone and singing Mustang Sally for karaoke. And this dream occurred on the day I was grounded and before you called me."_

"_It's not a bad song. It's catchy and all, but I don't really sing."_

"_You can sing?"_

"_W-well yeah, I _can _sing, but I just don't do it a lot." Jetfire stuttered slightly and I was surprised to see his face turn red._

_I laughed._

"_Looks like we have something in common." I teased. Wait, teased? Where did that come from?_

_It was quiet between us as the music continued playing. I kind of felt stupid for telling Jetfire about the dream I had and I started wishing that the subject could be changed._

"_You know, I realized that I don't really know much about you." He suddenly said. " I've told you about myself before, but I want to learn more about the femme who's going to become my future sparkmate."_

"_Y-you want to know about me?" Now it was my turn to stutter as my face heated up._

"_If you're willing to tell me, that is. I would rather have you tell me willingly than snooping around in your mind or forcing you."_

_I thought about what he said. I couldn't exactly recall the last time someone wanted to know about me, so of course this came as a surprise. But I knew he was right. I've been so curious about wanting to know more about Jetfire that I hardly thought to tell him about myself. I felt so horrible as I realized how selfish I'd been._

_**{You're not selfish, Skydancer.} **__He told me as I felt reassurance and understanding through our connection._

_I breathed in deeply before releasing, trying to get my thoughts straight._

"_What would you like to know?" I asked._

"_You've already told me your habits, so what about what you do? You know, like routine-wise?" He asked._

"_Well, before I knew you guys existed I usually went to school from Mondays through Fridays and then I just go home to do my homework. Although on Fridays I go to practice after school before going home. On Saturdays and Sundays I tend to sleep in, but otherwise I somehow come up with something to do. I make sure to hang out with Alexis and the others when I'm able to. But now that I know about you guys my routine is slightly different, but still the same."_

"_So that's why you said it was too early when I told you what time it was this morning. What about your creators…er, parents?"_

"_My dad's name is Thomas while my mom's name is Sarah. Both of them work at some business, hence why they weren't able to come see me dance last night. Despite being busy most of the time I still love them. In the past I've kind of wished they could be around more often, but now I don't want that to change."_

"_How come?"_

"_Because if they were around more often we wouldn't be here dancing like this or spending much time together." I felt my face heat up. "To be honest I haven't felt this happy for who know how many years."_

"_I guess you're right." He chuckled. "Is there anything you'd like to do when you're older besides dancing, or is ballet going to be your future job?"_

"_I thought of continuing to do ballet, actually. Why not choose something I enjoy doing? You understand, right?"_

"_Completely." He smiled before he got a thoughtful look on his face. "What do you think about sparklings?"_

_My eyes widened when he said that. He wanted to know what I thought about children? I suddenly felt awkward. This wasn't going where I thought it was, right?_

"Sparklings?_" I repeated and he nodded. "Well…you told me I was one, but that's not what you meant, was it?"_

"_Not even close." He told me._

"_Um…I-I think they're okay. I-I meant I've babysat once for one of my neighbors, and their child was no older than a year old. I can't exactly give you a good answer since it's kind of hard for me to know what I think of them."_

"_Can you see _us_ having sparklings?" _

_I stared at him. So the conversation did go in the direction I thought it was. I felt somewhat anxious and uncertain as my stomach seemed to do flips, and I suddenly had a mental image of me and Jetfire with miniature versions of him running around. Would they either be human or Cybertronian?"_

"_I-I guess. It's a little hard to, though. Why?"_

_Jetfire sighed and the look in his gold eyes showed me that he was actually serious about this._

"_I was hoping that someday we could have a sparkling of our own. Even two or more. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself and thinking about this too early. I just wanted to know what you thought of having one is all."_

"_I know. Like you said, it's too early to be thinking about having a sparkling. We just got together last night after you told me I was your sparkmate." I didn't miss the slightly disappointed look on Jetfire's face as he averted his gaze. I placed my hand on the side of his face so that he would look at me. "Jetfire. Maybe someday when I'm older we can have a sparkling, just not yet. Okay?"_

_Jetfire seemed to cheer up and gave me a smile before leaning down to kiss me. He had to in order to reach me since he was taller than me (only because his holoform was an adult while I was still a kid that was shorter than him). I just hoped I would get taller when I'm older so he wouldn't have to constantly do so._

I was snapped out of my thoughts when the bell ran to indicate class was over. I gathered my things together before leaving the room to head to my locker. As soon as I put the combination in I opened the locker, only to feel a bit of confusion when I found a folded piece of notebook paper sitting on top of the textbook I needed for my next period, which was before lunch. Maybe it was one of the papers I used as a bookmark that fell out of one of my books.

Not thinking much about it I merely picked it up and replaced my textbook with the one I needed for next period before heading to class. As I was walking down the hallway I heard a few murmurs from a group of girls and when the words "did you hear…" reached my ears I immediately tuned them out since I knew they were gossiping. To me I knew gossiping was bad and I wasn't going to get involved.

I made it to class and took a seat at one of the many desks in the room. There were already students in the room that were talking to each other. I kind of felt left out since I really didn't have anyone to talk to.

"So, Valerie. Did you hear what's going on?"

I turned to where the voice came from to find that it was one of the girls that I'd seen gossiping earlier.

"I don't gossip." I told her, feeling slightly uneasy.

"Aren't you at least curious about what people are saying about you?"

"What?" My eyes widened.

She seemed to think that I was asking her what happened since she continued.

"Apparently you have a secret admirer who left you a note in your locker."

I immediately thought back to the folded up paper I found not too long ago and suddenly felt anxious as I started unfolding it. My eyes widened as I reread the note multiple times and my face paled in dread. This wasn't good. If I really had a secret admirer then telling Jetfire about this was definitely out of the question. I wouldn't know how he'd react, but I don't want to find out. So this was what those girls were gossiping about. But if they were gossiping about this then that meant that almost everyone in the school was going to know by lunch time!

'_This can't be happening…!_' I thought, making sure I blocked my thoughts so Jetfire wouldn't hear.

Lunch time came sooner than I wanted it to and just as I thought, everyone knew about what happened. People were talking loudly in the lunch room and everyone would look at me as I walked by them with my lunch. I went to the table I always sat at since it was one of the few tables that were farther away from the crowded area. I couldn't stop thinking about the note I read and I had to constantly make sure my mental shields were up so Jetfire wouldn't know what was wrong. I was so stressed out.

"Valerie, is it true?" I heard Alexis' voice ask.

I looked up and sure enough I saw Alexis, along with Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred taking a seat at the table I was at.

"Yeah, we heard you had a secret admirer." Carlos added.

"I wish it weren't…" I told them, lowering my gaze to the untouched food on my lunch tray.

"Why's that?" Rad asked.

"It's…hard to explain." I felt uneasy and slightly uncomfortable about telling them that I was in a relationship with Jetfire. Many scenarios invaded my mind of how they would react if they knew.

"Aw, c'mon! You can tell us!" Fred said.

"Don't be stupid, Fred!" Billy scolded. "Valerie doesn't' have to tell us anything if she doesn't want to!"

"For once you're actually right, Billy." Alexis said. I lifted my head when she said this and I turned to her. "Besides, you look like you've had enough stress for today."

I felt somewhat relieved when school ended. I took Alexis' offer to ride with her on Sureshock, in order to get to the base. I just hope Jetfire wouldn't find out about today.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire was watching some recent footage from their last few battles with the Decepticons, all the while coming up with strategies the Autobots could use for future encounters. But eventually he got bored and turned off the monitor before leaning against a wall. He thought of Valerie and what happened two days ago, especially when they had been dancing. He remembered how she reacted when he brought up sparkling and how he told her he would want one someday. He remembered how his spark flared hotly at the thought of having a sparkling with her-a tiny spark created purely out of their love. He cycled his vents quietly, which brought him to another thought. Would Valerie's creators (parents, he reminded himself) accept him if he were to introduce himself to them? Probably not at this point in time. They would probably think he was what humans referred to as a pedophile. He frowned behind his face mask. It was incredible (and somewhat frustrating) how vastly different human customs were compared to Cybertronian customs. And they had more than a 1,000 different customs, too! His best bet was to wait until she was older before introducing himself to her parents.

Out of the corner of his optic Jetfire noticed something moving slowly, as if sneaking around. He turned quickly just in time to catch Hoist trying to sneak past the doorway.

"A-HA! I knew I'd catch you one of these days, Smokey!" Jetfire exclaimed.

"Oh, well, whaddya know? I've finally been caught! Whatever should I do?" Hoist said jokingly. Same ol' mech, despite having a different frame. "But you need to remember that I'm 'Hoist' now, not 'Smokescreen.'"

"Oh, sorry 'bout that. I've been so used to calling you that, that's all. And it doesn't help that I can't come up with a new nickname for ya!"

Hoist laughed.

"Knowing you, I wouldn't put it passed ya." Hoist grinned. "Oh, and by the way, the kids are here." He then ran off.

"_What?_! Slaggit! How in Primus' name do you find these things out before me?" Jetfire asked, running after the white Autobot.

"Why, I just so happen to have my optics everywhere. Haven't you heard the human saying 'the walls have audio receptors?'"

"Yeah, but-" Jetfire suddenly realized something and smirked behind his face mask. "Oh, so the secret's finally out! You were _spying _on everyone through the security monitors!"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I was with everyone as we waited in the command center with the other Autobots for the ones that weren't in the room. I knew some of the others were busy so they probably wouldn't be here. I could feel Jetfire's excitement through our connection and I knew that he was on his way. Before I knew it the huge door slid open and I saw my sparkmate and Hoist walk in.

"Hey, did we miss anything?" Jetfire asked.

"Nothing much." Hot Shot told him. "The kids were about to tell us about their day."

Oh no…! I suddenly felt anxious as I dreaded what was going to be said. I could feel Jetfire's confusion as he wondered why I was feeling the way I did.

"Nothing much happened. Same old, same old." Carlos told them.

"Except that there's going to be a quiz in math tomorrow." Alexis stated.

"Aw! Why'd you have to go and remind me!"

"And it turns out Valerie has a secret admirer!" Fred said excitedly.

My eyes widened in horror as Fred just blurted out the one thing I didn't want anyone here to know. I turned to Jetfire and could feel the shock he felt from his end.

"A _secret admirer_, huh?" Jetfire asked bitterly, his gold optics narrowing at me as I felt his anger and jealousy.

"Yeah, why-"

Before Fred could finish Jetfire suddenly headed for the door in order to leave. I could feel the strong sense of betrayal mixing together with the anger and jealousy he had and I couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Jetfire, wait!" I yelled, quickly running down the steps as I tried to go after him. I wasn't even at the bottom of the steps when he went through the door. I urged myself to run faster and I eventually made it through the door. I could see Jetfire was a good distance away as he merely walked down the hallway, his loud footsteps echoing through the air. "Jetfire!"

Jetfire didn't turn around to acknowledge me, but I knew he heard me since his hands balled up into tight fists, causing the metal to groan slightly. Not once did he stop walking, not even turning to look at me, and eventually I realized he was heading outside when I saw the entrance. I suddenly felt desperate and my legs were sore from running, but I couldn't stop! He went through the doorway.

"Transform!" I suddenly heard Jetfire's voice yell.

As soon as I made it outside the only thing I saw was the familiar form of a space shuttle flying away from the base. I suddenly felt sad as I watched it fly farther and farther away.

'_Jetfire!_' I thought.

I tried to reach out to him through the connection, but I suddenly felt a burning and shocking pain stab at my heart. My sore legs gave out from underneath me and I collapsed to my knees and my hand shot to my chest as I clutched it. Then out of nowhere I threw up on the ground, emptying my stomach of what was left of my lunch. I tried taking deep breaths, but I ended up dry heaving. The burning and shocking pain in my chest disappeared, but I could still feel the after effects from it. It hurt so much, yet I knew it was nothing compared to the pain I felt when I saw Jetfire's spark disappear in that one vision I had. What was happening to me?

"Valerie!"

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and slowly turned my head to see that it was Alexis.

"Eww… that's so gross…" I heard Billy say, and I knew he was referring to the bile that was on the ground.

"Billy." Rad warned quietly.

"Are you okay?" Alexis asked me softly.

Was I okay? I wasn't sure anymore. I didn't know what to think anymore. I felt like I lost something important to me, yet I couldn't figure out what it was.

"I don't know…" I replied, my voice barely above a whisper. I felt tears form in my eyes and a few of them rolled down my cheeks. "I don't know…"

Alexis wrapped her arms around me in a comforting way. I couldn't stop myself from crying and I didn't care if anyone saw. I didn't know how long I cried, but I eventually stopped.

"I think I should go home…" I said when I finally calmed down a bit.

"Okay. Let me get one of the Autobots." She told me.

Alexis left me as she went to get someone to take me home. I found my gaze wandering up to the blue sky, hoping to see Jetfire flying back to the base. I didn't see him at all. Instead I could see a few gray clouds forming in the sky and I knew it was going to rain. Would he still be outside when it was raining?

"Hey." Alexis' soft voice caught my attention. "Hot Shot agreed to take you home. I'll come along for the ride."

"Okay." My voice was quiet.

Alexis led me over to Hot Shot, who was already in his car form, and I climbed into the back seat while my friend sat in the front passenger seat. Even as he drove I tuned out what they were saying. I felt…numb and was unsure how I should feel. Was it normal to be like this? By the time Hot Shot pulled into the driveway of my house I undid the seatbelt and was about to get out, but Alexis stopped me.

"Will you be okay by yourself?" She asked.

"I think so." I replied before looking out the window. "Maybe what I need right now is some time alone."

I got out of Hot Shot and quickly closed the door so he wouldn't get any water in his interior before making my way to the front door. I didn't care that I was getting soaked as I walked through the rain. When I got inside I knew I was the only one home. I glanced at the living room and I couldn't help but feel sad as I was reminded of when Jetfire and I were dancing. I quickly headed up to my room to try to get away from the memory, but it didn't help that my eyes landed on my bed and made the sadness return from another memory. I wanted to get my mind off of the memories and of what happened today and I decided to do my homework. I finished it an hour later, but even then I couldn't forget _him_. I couldn't forget the way Jetfire looked at me, the way his gold optics had been narrow in his anger as he glared at me. I knew he was jealous when Fred told everyone I had a secret admirer, but even when I tried to chase after him he never gave me a chance to even explain myself.

I suddenly thought of an idea and headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I lifted the lid on the toilet up just in case before getting on my knees. I closed my eyes and tried to carefully reach out to Jetfire through our connection. At first I felt a bit of confusion, but then it quickly changed to realization before being followed by raw anger and hate. I was surprised at how strong his emotions were. I never thought anyone could be so angry.

_**{Get out of my processor!} **_Jetfire's voice growled loudly in my mind. He didn't hide how angry he was at me and it scared me.

I suddenly felt the burning and shocking pain in my heart that I experienced earlier, but I tried to ignore it as I attempted to push through it.

'_A-at least…let me…explain, Jetfire!_' I begged, my eyes squeezed tightly as I tried to endure the pain.

_**{GET OUT!}**_

The burning and shocking pain intensified to the point that it became unbearable for me and I suddenly lost my hold on the connection as I was forcible pushed out. My eyes shot open and I managed to lean my head over the toilet before dry heaving bile into it. I don't know how long I kept doing this, but I knew I didn't feel well. My throat felt like it was burning and I still had the aftertaste of the bile in my mouth. Like before I could feel the after effect of the pain in my chest, almost like a stronger version of phantom pain. I burst into tears as I realized that the burning and shocking pain I felt when I tried to contact Jetfire were caused by him! He hurt me even though he once told me that he'd never to anything to harm me. He didn't want anything to do with me. He didn't want to be around me or talk to me. He was rejecting me. He even went as far as to hurt me just to keep me out of his mind.

'_It hurts so much…_' I thought, my heart feeling like it was breaking to pieces in the metaphorical sense. '_I'm so sorry. I never meant to betray you._'

It didn't matter if he heard me or not. I didn't care anymore. I didn't feel like I was myself anymore; I felt like a complete stranger. Alone. I was alone. And I was so painfully aware of the huge emptiness I felt where I knew _he _should've been. What did I do wrong? I didn't cheat on him, yet he made it seem like I did just that. I loved him…but now he was gone.

After awhile I forced myself to get up and flushed the toilet before going over to the sink. I turned the faucet on and leaned my mouth close to the running water, taking in a mouthful before spitting it out and repeating the process to get rid of the horrible taste. As soon as I was finished I turned the water off and left the bathroom. I glanced over at my bed. It looked so comfortable, almost inviting… I went over to lay down on the bed, instantly noticing it felt different. It wasn't the same without _him_ being here, to lay beside me, to hold me while telling me everything was going to alright. I couldn't feel his presence through the connection anymore. My eyes starting tearing up as I gazed at the white ceiling above me. I could hear the buzzing sound in my ears as my mind seemed to draw a blank.

I wasn't sure how long I stayed in that same position before I heard the sound of a garage door opening and I didn't have to guess that Mom was home. I knew Dad wouldn't be far behind. I slowly got out of bed before heading downstairs, only to see a woman with light brown hair that came down to her chin and brown eyes. She smiled at me when I came into the kitchen.

"Hi, sweetie." She greeted. "How was school today?"

"It was fine." I told her.

Mom seemed to notice that there was more than what I was telling her.

"What's wrong?"

I wasn't sure if I should tell her or not. Could I get away with telling half truths?

"There was a rumor going around school saying I had a secret admirer. But then someone told one of my friends about it and he got mad at me."

"He? Who's this friend you're talking about?"

"Jason. Jason Flynn." I found myself saying. I was surprised at how quickly I thought up the name.

"Jason Flynn." She said thoughtfully. "What's he like?"

"He's…the nicest guy I've ever met and he has a good sense of humor." I suddenly thought of all the times I spent with _him_ and I felt my heart clench slightly. "He practically made it his mission to help me when he learned how low my self-esteem was, and he always tried to cheer me up whenever I was sad. But no he won't talk to me. He started ignoring me and every time I try to explain that I don't like whoever's my secret admirer he just walks away."

"It seems like he's jealous."

"I'm aware that he's jealous, he just won't give me a chance to tell him that he doesn't need to be."

"Well, in cases like these you have to be persistent. Keep trying until you've cornered him. Then he'll listen. He can't read minds, you know?"

'_If only you knew._' I thought.

After that discussion I ended up helping Mom make dinner. Tonight we were having Thai curry and at the moment I was cutting up some onions and red peppers. I sniffled slightly. Stupid onions! Making me cry. I was almost done, too.

"Valerie! What happened_?_!"

Mom's panicked voice caught my attention and I turned to see that she had a horrified expression on her face while her gaze seemed to be set on my hands. I looked down at them and realized that my left hand was bleeding, yet I didn't feel surprised when I know I should've. I hadn't noticed that the knife I was using even cut my skin. And strangely enough I didn't notice any pain, yet I should be feeling it right now. Was my mind unable to register what happened?

Mom came over and gently took the knife away from me before helping me wash my hand. She went over to a cabinet before coming back with a bottle of peroxide, a roll of gauze, and a tube of triple antiseptic ointment before taking care of my hand. I didn't pay attention to what was going on as my mind thought of Jetfire. Was he even aware of what happened?

"I'll take care of finishing dinner." Mom told me, and I realized she was leading me to the couch in the living room and had me sit down. "It's almost done, anyways."

She left me there to sit on the couch, yet all I did was stare straight ahead. All I could think about was Jetfire as his face appeared in my mind, both robotic and human faces haunting me with golden gazes. His face…it wouldn't go away! It wouldn't leave me alone! It was almost like it was taunting me! I grabbed my head with my good hand, weaving my fingers through my hair as I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. I couldn't stand it! Why was my mind torturing me with images and memories of the one person I deeply cared about, that I loved, but couldn't have any longer_?_! Why couldn't I just forget about him_?_! I never should have found that Mini-Con panel that day I was heading to practice. If I hadn't found it I wouldn't have to feel this way, so miserable, so heartbroken, so _empty_.

Couldn't I just end it all? No one would have to worry about me. No one would have to hate me. No one would miss me. Everyone could just go on with their lives and forget I even existed. No one would have to blame me for my mistakes. I wouldn't have to feel this way anymore. I wouldn't have to worry about the deal I made with Sideways. Everything Jetfire told me was a lie. He lied to me. He never really cared about me in the first place. He just led me to believe that he did, only to abandon me like this. I couldn't continue going on like this. I couldn't continue going around hiding how I truly felt. Tonight. I'll end it all tonight. Sure a few people would be sad to learn that I killed myself, but they would eventually forget about me.

"Why the long face?"

I turned to where the voice came from and found Dad gazing at me with his blue eyes, his blonde hair slicked back.

"I guess because of what happened today." I told him. "It…really got to me."

"Your mother told me about it. How's your hand?"

I glanced down at my left hand for the first time since it had been taken care of. It was wrapped up in gauze so that it could heal. I frowned, unable to feel the stinging from when it had pierced my skin.

"I don't know. I don't feel any pain. I know that the cut is there, but I don't feel it." I looked at Dad. "Is that normal?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's a good thing that you can't feel it for now." He told me. "We're ready to eat dinner so come join us."

I followed Dad into the kitchen and I saw that the table was already set with plates filled with Thai curry and rice and silverware to use. I watched Mom and Dad eat and talk to each other as I merely picked at the food on my plate since I wasn't hungry. I felt…somewhat envious of them both, knowing that neither of them had to worry about secret admirers or angry spouses. They had each other. They wouldn't have to worry when I was gone. They could easily continue on with their lives without me.

"Valerie?" I glanced at Mom and Dad, seeing their worried looks. "Aren't you going to eat your food?"

I lowered my gaze so that it was set on my uneaten food.

"…I'm not hungry." I said.

"But it's your favorite." Dad stated.

"I know. I'm just not hungry." I lifted my gaze to look at them. "May I be excused?"

They looked at each other.

"You may."

I got up from my seat and started to leave, but I stopped in front of the doorway and looked back at them. This would probably be the last time I saw them both.

"I love you, Mom, Dad." I told them.

"We love you, too, Valerie." They said.

I left the kitchen and went up to my room, shutting the door behind me. I picked up a pair of scissors that were on my desk and opened them before setting the blade close to my wrist. This was it. I was about to end everything with just the cut of a vein. Jetfire wouldn't be here to stop me this time.

_**{Don't even think about trying to kill yourself.}**_

My eyes widened when I heard the familiar deep voice in my head, but then I frowned, my eyebrows furrowed.

'_Leave me alone, Sideways._'

_**{Remember our deal, Sweet Valerie.}**_He told me. _**{If you kill yourself, then everyone you care about will suffer the consequences of your actions. You wouldn't want your sparkmate to die, do you?}**_

'_I don't care! Nothing matters anymore!_'

I attempted to slide the blade across my wrist, but suddenly I found that my throat was being constricted by some invisible force, causing me to drop the scissors as I tried to claw at the hold on my throat.

_**{You're not very good at following orders. You don't **_**have **_**a choice but to follow my orders.}**_ His tone was dark and intimidating as more pressure was applied to my throat, causing me to gag.

'_Just do it. Go ahead and kill me. I told you I didn't care about anything._' I told him.

_**{I shouldn't have to constantly remind you that everyone **_**will**_** suffer if you decide to leave your end of the deal incomplete. Know your place, femme.}**_

Suddenly the pressure on my throat disappeared and I found myself gasping as I took in mouthfuls of air. I suddenly felt frustrated! Why didn't he just kill me_?_! If Sideways was really a Decepticon he wouldn't have allowed me to live if I told him I wanted to die. He would have gladly did it. So what was stopping him from doing that_?_! Why couldn't he just allow me to kill myself_?_!

I'll have to try again another time. Just not tomorrow since he'll probably suspect that. Tomorrow I'd just have to go around hiding my true feelings from everyone. Maybe I'll take this as my chance to spend what time I had left with them until I decided to try again.

I got ready for bed before decided to go to sleep.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_I found myself in that dark void of a place I've been to countless times already. Over the past two days Jetfire had always met me here whenever we were both asleep at night and we always kept each other company until we woke up the next morning. This time, though, he wasn't here at all. He wasn't here to hold me close, to cover my eyes with a blindfold so that he could kiss me. I was alone. I couldn't help but think this place reflected the emptiness inside my heart, showing how truly alone I was. Even if I had been dreaming instead of being here I knew they would've been unpleasant dreams._

_Suddenly I saw a floating orb of light blue light that I've come to know as a spark appear in front of me and slowly came closer to me as if to inspect me. I felt slightly confused as I stared at it, wondering what a Cybertronian spark was doing here, who this spark once was, but I dismissed those thoughts and ignored it as I looked away. At least I wasn't alone now…_

_**{Are you…Valerie?} **__A masculine voice asked._

_I looked at the spark in front of me, a little surprised that he knew my name._

"_Yes." I replied._

_The spark floated away from me and seemed to bounce excitedly, which reminded me of the fairy Navi from the Zelda game Ocarina of Time._

_**{Aha! I knew it!} **__He said, sounding like he accomplished something. __**{I knew you were the one Astera told me about! Her description of you was spot on!}**_

_The spark got brighter and I had to cover my eyes and wait before it dimmed down. I looked back to where the spark had been, only to have my eyes widen at who I saw!_

_"J-Jetfire?_!_" I exclaimed, completely shocked. I suddenly thought of what happened when I had tried to contact him and the pain I had felt before starting to back away from the mech in front of me in fear. "No! Stay away from me! Don't come any closer!"_

_**{Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down for a bit, would ya?} **__He held his hands up in front of him. __**{I knew my son looked a lot like me, but I didn't think his own sparkmate would confuse me for him!}**_

_I hesitated as I forced myself to get a good look at him. He looked exactly like Jetfire, even having the same gold optics, red helm, and gold face mask, but he was less bulky with a deep blue lines outlining his armor and wings. Unlike Jetfire's wings, this mech's wings spanned out in a fashion similar to Starscream's. I realized that this wasn't Jetfire! Then that meant…!_

"_Are you Jetfire's father?" I asked._

_**{Yep!} **__The mech in front of me did a mock bow. __**{Silverbolt at your service!}**_

_So Silverbolt was the name of Jetfire's father, the same one that died when he was still a sparkling. And this was also Astera's sparkmate. _

"_What are you doing here?" I asked._

_**{What? I can't come to see my future 'daughter-in-law' for the first time? I'm hurt!}**_

_I looked away from Silverbolt as I frowned, already feeling indifferent about the conversation._

"_You're wasting your time, Silverbolt. It's never going to work out between us."_

**_{What?_!_} _**_Silverbolt sighed. __**{That sparkling of mine! Seems like he inherited more than just my looks.} **__I lifted my gaze to look back at him. __**{He ended up having my stubbornness and talent for holding grudges. I know for a fact that Astera didn't raise him to behave like that.}**_

"_You can justify him all you like. I don't care anymore."_

_I saw the sympathetic look in his optics as he shook his head._

_**{All this because of jealousy?} **__It was more of a statement than a question. __**{He doesn't realize how much this rejection is hurting you or what it's doing to you, but in the end it's going to hurt both of you.}**_

"_Well, it certainly doesn't _seem _like it. Plus, I think he'd be better off without me in his life. One thing less for him to worry about." I said bitterly._

_**{Don't you get**_**_ it?_!**_** No, I think you don't, so let me put it this way for you to understand. I was offlined, killed, when my son was no older that 5 years old in human standards. Then my sparkmate was killed in front of him when he was 20. She literally died in his arms and for what we consider to be 7 years to us was how long he's been alone since then!}**_

_I scoffed._

"_I'm not _stupid_! I know what happened. Jetfire already told me this story. As I said before, he'd probably be better off without me."_

_Silverbolt gave out an exasperated sigh, his gold optics dimming as he shook his head._

_**{Great. Not only is he stubborn, but his sparkmate is as well.} **__He seemed to be talking to himself before his optics lit up again. __**{Are you always this stubborn?}**_

"_To be honest I've never really paid attention to if I was stubborn or not."_

_**{How about this, Valerie? How about you wait and tell Jetfire how much you hate him and explain that this is all a misunderstanding **_**before **_**you decide to offline yourself? At least give him that much!}**_

"_Fine." I told him. "I will. But that's all I'm going to do. Nothing extra."_

_Again, he gave me that sympathetic look that I was slowly starting to despise._

_**{I can't believe how much this has affected you. Astera told me you were such a sweet femme. In fact you were much like her, too. But now you've become so bitter and indifferent.} **__He hung his head. __**{This situation isn't any different for Cybertronians, either. I've seen it happen before to a few of my friends. It's something I'd never wish on my worst enemy. It can change a person drastically and most of the time it can cause one to take their own life.}**_

"_I'll admit that was deep, but it's not going to change my mind." My voice was calm as I turned so my back was facing him. My voice suddenly had a small hint of sadness and regret. "It's too late for me, Silverbolt. I can't go back after something like this. Give my regards to Astera."_

_**{…It's never too late to go back…} **__I barely heard his voice since it was so quiet._

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The next day was like any other day for me, with the exception that I didn't feel any different than how I was when I spoke to Silverbolt. I knew I wasn't the same Valerie I used to be; I was a bit surprised that everyone still referred to me by that name. My parents had been concerned when I hadn't eaten breakfast this morning. Even Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred were worried as well, especially when they saw that my left hand was wrapped in gauze. I didn't care. They wouldn't understand what I was going through. But they didn't have to since they wouldn't have to worry for long anyways. I went to my locker, but I didn't feel surprised when I saw another folded piece of paper inside. I unfolded it slowly and read the words before crumbling the paper in my right hand. So my secret admirer wanted to meet me in the courtyard at lunch? I finally get the chance to see the one who started this whole mess in the first place.

Lunch time came before I knew it (much to my relief), but I wasn't hungry. I went to the courtyard, but I didn't feel surprise (even though I should've) when I found Drake Ellison waiting for me. So it was him, one of the popular kids in school, that was my secret admirer! His green eyes lit up when he saw me and he ran a hand through his black hair.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." He said, flashing me a smile.

I felt my anger boil up inside me and my right hand tightened into a fist. It was his fault! He's the reason why this whole mess started in the first place! Before I knew it Drake was on the ground holding a hand to his nose (which was bleeding) as he stared at me with wide eyes.

"What the hell?" He yelled.

"You idiot!" I said, not bothering to hide my anger as I glared down at him. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me? One of my friends doesn't want anything to do with me and won't even talk to me because you had to go and put that note in my locker yesterday! You caused me to lose them, you self-centered moron! I don't even like you!"

With that I left Drake there. I felt somewhat satisfied with what I did, but it was short-lived since I had another loose end to take care of. I was going to wait for the right time before I took action.

I was glad when school was over and I went to meet my friends in front of the building. As soon as they saw me they gave me wary looks.

"What were you thinking, Valerie?" Alexis asked.

"Y-yeah! W-why'd you hit Drake Ellison?" Billy asked.

"I was merely…knocking some sense into him." I told them casually.

"Y-you're not going to go psycho on use, are ya?" Carlos asked, seeming uneasy. "I heard that the quiet ones are usually the type that go crazy."

"No. I'm sure he got the message that I wasn't interested."

"Are you feeling okay, Valerie?" Rad asked.

"I've **never **felt better."

We headed to the base, where we were greeted by Optimus, Hot Shot, and Hoist. I didn't say anything and just walked down the hallway as I made my way to the rec room to do my homework. I stepped inside to find Jetfire leaning against a wall. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, his head turned to me as he glared at me. I just stared at him, not feeling anything. I noticed that his optics fell on my left hand that had the gauze wrapped around it and for a second I thought I saw something flash in his optics, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. After awhile he took his gold gaze off of me as he pushed against the wall and stood up straight before making his way to the door to leave.

"I hope you're happy." I told him as he walked by me, my voice void of all emotion.

Jetfire stopped for a moment, seeming to hesitate, before continuing on his way down the hallway. I headed over to one of the human size couches and got started on my homework. It was when I only had one question left when Alexis came up to me.

"Hey, Valerie." She greeted. "Would you want to watch a movie with me and Starscream?"

"You managed to get Starscream to agree?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Uh-huh! Although it took a bit of convincing on my part."

"Okay. Let me finish this last problem first and then I'll watch. What movie is it?"

"Lion King 2: Simba's Pride." She told me.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Starscream wasn't sure what to make of this 'movie' he was watching with the two human femmes. What were their names again. Oh, yes, Alexis and Valerie (as the former had referred to the latter). They both sat on the human size couch as he sat on a Transformer size chair he had brought over to sit in front of the moderately sized TV. To humans the TV would've been considered big, but it was just the right size for him since he didn't have to zoom his optics in to see the footage. His impression of the movie? It took the meaning of animal kingdom to a whole new level. No, seriously! It did!

This one lion, Simba, was a king! There was his daughter, Kiara, who had feelings for another lion named Kovu, who was part of another pride that had been exiled by Simba when he took over the Pride Lands. Kovu's mother, Zira… She almost reminded him of Megatron. Almost. It seemed like everyone at Pride Rock didn't trust Kovu (although that was because his mission was to gain their trust, only to betray Simba), except for Kiara. Something about Kovu's story seemed familiar. He realized it was his own situation that was the same as Kovu, and the Autobots' were the same as the other animals at Pride Rock. Surprisingly, he found himself interested in this movie. Human's had an interesting way of telling stories. But then there were the songs. No one just broke out into song. It'd be like the Decepticons suddenly started to sing while working.

Whoa! Didn't that put a weird mental image in his processor?

Then there was the part when Kovu went back to Pride Rock to ask for Simba's forgiveness, but then he was exiled. The animals started singing, and he suddenly found himself paying attention to the words.

_**Deception  
Disgrace  
Evil as plain as the scar on his face**_

_**Deception (An outrage!)**_  
_**(He can't change his stripes!)**_  
_**Disgrace (For shame!)**_  
_**(You know these Outsider types!)**_

_**He asked for trouble the moment he came**_  
_**(See you later, agitator!)**_

_**Deception (An outrage!)**_  
_**(Just leave us alone!)**_  
_**Disgrace (For shame!)**_  
_**(Traitor, go back with your own!)**_

_**He asked for trouble the moment he came  
(See you later, agitator!)**_

_**Born in grief  
Raised in hate  
Helpless to defy his fate  
Let him run  
Let him live  
But do not forget  
What we cannot forgive**_

_**And he is not one of us  
He has never been one of us  
He is not part of us  
Not our kind  
**__**  
Someone once lied to us  
Now we're not so blind  
For we knew he would do what he's done  
And we know that he'll never be one of us**_

_**He is not one of us**_

_**Deception**_  
_**Disgrace**_  
_**Deception**_  
_**Disgrace**_  
_**Deception**_

He suddenly felt angry. If Kovu's story was the same as his, did that mean that his own situation would end the same_?_! He got up and went to leave the room. The sounds from the movie were silence as he heard Alexis call his name. He saw how his story was going to end. He was going to be labeled as a traitor! He had only taken a few steps down the hallway when he heard Alexis' voice.

"Starscream, wait!" She said. He stopped walking and stood as her small footsteps got louder as she got closer to him. "Starscream, what's wrong?"

"Why would you want to know?" He asked, giving her a sideways glance.

Alexis hesitated, seeming to be taken off guard by this question, but then she seemed to recover.

"Because you're my friend."

He was shocked when he heard this. _Friend_. She had called him her friend. But why? He hadn't done anything to deserve such a title. Or was it that humans were so naïve? Starscream turned around to face her, gazing down at her small form with his orange red optics.

"You really want to know, do you?" He questioned. Alexis nodded, and he knew that she wanted to hear. "It was that movie we were watching. Kovu reminds me too much of myself. And it doesn't help that that one part we just saw got to me. It's like that movie knows something about _my _situation."

Starscream didn't miss the sympathetic look in Alexis' eyes and he suddenly felt something in his spark. Something about being around her felt right. It had been like this when he first saw her. He found that he liked her for some reason, but he didn't know why. He liked what he felt, yet at the same time he hated feeling the way he did. It completely frustrated him! That was why whenever she tried to talked to him in the past he didn't stay around her for long and walked away. Was it possible that she was his…?

'_Don't be stupid!_' He yelled at himself mentally. '_I don't have time for that! All that matters is taking down Megatron!_'

"But the movie has a good ending, though. This may seem like a depressing time in the movie, but it eventually gets better."

"Really?" He found himself suddenly interested. "Then what happens?"

Alexis giggled.

"I can't tell you. You're gonna have to watch and find out for yourself."

Starscream grumbled slightly as he followed Alexis back to the rec room. He noticed how the other femme, Valerie, was just staring at the screen, but it didn't seem like she was looking _at _it. Instead she seemed to look right through it, if the look in her blue optics (eyes, as humans called them) wasn't much of a giveaway. He found her behavior strange today; he knew for a fact that she was usually more…cheerful, but now she didn't seem to express any emotion anymore. Was this really the same human femme he watched dancing at that performance two days ago?

Something had happened yesterday, he assumed. Starscream had noticed how close she and Jetfire were, almost as if the two were sparkmates. Was it possible that they were? If that was the case, then what was it that happened yesterday that left the femme in the state she was in? He remembered hearing about her having a 'secret admirer." Was it that the Autobot was jealous of them and this was the end result? He wasn't sure, but that seemed to be the most likely cause.

Starscream turned back to the TV screen just in time for the movie to resume. He would watch it to the end and see if this 'happy ending' was really there.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Optimus sat in his office reading over a data pad that contained the strategies Jetfire had come up with yesterday. He had to admit they were interesting and there seemed to be a lot of thought put into them. He decided to take a break from reading and placed the data pad on his desk as thoughts entered his processor. He was aware of what everyone thought of Starscream being around. He knew his men didn't trust him, but the kids believed he could be trusted. Jetfire seemed to get along with the ex-Decepticon to some extent since their mission on Mars, but that was about it. Optimus believed that Starscream deserved a chance to fight against the Decepticons despite what his soldiers thought.

Then his thoughts drifted to his Vice Commander and Valerie. Jetfire had told him that he confessed his feelings to the human femme, and he noticed how happy he seemed to be. He hadn't been that happy since he discovered he would be going on leave to visit Astera 70,000 years ago. But after what happened yesterday everything seemed to go wrong. He didn't have to guess that Jetfire was jealous of this 'secret admirer' Fred told them Valerie had. It was somewhat amusing at first that his Vice Commander was jealous, but now Jetfire was doing everything he could to avoid Valerie. Optimus frowned behind his face mask. The shuttle mech really believed that his sparkmate had feelings for this 'secret admirer', but the Autobot leader knew better. He knew Valerie wouldn't betray Jetfire. It didn't help that the latter had been alone for so long since Astera's death, and he could still remember how hard it was for him to cope with it. He knew Jetfire was making a mistake by pushing Valerie away. He had seen how Valerie had been when she arrived with the other kids, how different and emotionless she was. She had changed drastically and he knew it was because of the engagement connection between them slowly being severed. If anything, she was the one suffering the most from it. He had seen something like this happened to a few of his soldiers back on Cybertron. It was a worst fate than just losing one's sparkmate.

Optimus would have to talk with Jetfire about this. He knew this couldn't go on any longer, and he swore to Primus that one way or another this mess was going to be settled.

And what better way to have a talk with Jetfire than to call him in?

"Jetfire, do you read me?" Optimus asked as he contacted his Vice Commander.

"_**Loud and clear, Optimus.**_" Jetfire replied. "_**Is there anything you need?**_"

"I'd like to have a word with you in my office. Come as soon as you can."

"_**Roger! I'm on my way now.**_"

With that Optimus ended their conversation on the comm link.

'_Sink, lure, and hook._' He thought.

He waited patiently for Jetfire to arrive, all the while thinking of what to say to him. Only a few minutes later did the shuttle mech walk through his office door, which closed behind him as he approached his leader's desk.

"You wanted to talk to me, sir?" Jetfire asked.

"Yes, I did." Optimus replied, getting up from his desk and picking up the data pad before coming to stand in front of Jetfire.

"Is it about the strategies I gave you?"

"No, but they do relate to what I want to discuss. I wanted to talk to you about Valerie."

At this Optimus watched as Jetfire's gold optics narrowed at the mention of Valerie and his servos clenched into tight fists. There was no doubt that he was angry and didn't want to have this conversation, but the Autobot leader knew that this had to be addressed.

"Oh, I see where this conversation is going. And I _don't _want any part of it." Jetfire said, and he could imagine the shuttle mech sneering behind his face mask.

"You may not _want _to talk about her, but this _needs _to be addressed!" Optimus countered.

"Piss off, Optimus!"

That was it! Optimus grabbed Jetfire and forcefully slammed him into a nearby wall and kept him pinned there. Jetfire tried to struggle, but Optimus wasn't going to have that.

"What the frag_?_!" Jetfire exclaimed.

"Have you seen the way she's been recently_?_!" Optimus growled.

"Pft! Of course I have, and I could care less!"

"Don't you get it, Jetfire_?_! You're the reason _why _she's like that! It's your fault!"

"_My _fault_?_! How is this suddenly _my _fault_?_!"

"You got jealous over the fact that she happened to have a secret admirer!"

"So? It seems I'm not good enough for her, her own _sparkmate_!" Jetfire's voice was bitter as he spoke. "That whore can be happy with that human boy for all I care!"

"Don't you DARE call her that!" Optimus yelled, slamming Jetfire back into the wall. "She's your sparkmate, for Primus' sake! You never even _gave _her a chance to explain and just walked away from her! You were too stubborn to listen to what she had to say!"

"She didn't have to explain! There was _nothing_ to explain! She _betrayed _me and that's that!"

"Are you even listening to yourself_?_! You need to realize that everyone's chosen sparkmate can't be taken by another! Even if Valerie is a human and a human male has his eyes one her, she would never be able to be with him! You once told me that if you ever found your sparkmate you'd do anything to keep her smiling! Whatever happened to that promise_?_!"

"Simple! It died as soon as I heard the words 'secret admirer' reach my audio receptors!"

Optimus was getting frustrated with how stubborn Jetfire was being and pulled out the data pad, holding it in front of the shuttle mech's face so that he was forced to look at it.

"See this data pad? This was the one you gave me that contains all the strategies you came up with yesterday. I can tell you put a lot of thought into them, and I know for a fact that you kept Valerie in your processor when you came up with these! You wanted to keep her safe from harm, but now _you're _the one that's ended up harming her!"

"What are you getting at, Prime!" Jetfire growled.

"As I said before: it's your fault that she's in the state she's in. Because you've been rejecting her the engagement connection between the two of you is slowly being severed. She's already lost her emotions. Her personality and everything that's made her the person she was is gone! All that's left of her is nothing more than a shell of her former self! You may not have known this, but I've seen this happen to many good soldiers that have served under my command, especially when it came to their sparkmates! If you don't do anything to stop this, you're going to lose more than just her being your sparkmate!"

"Wow! Great lecture!" Jetfire said mockingly. "I don't need you telling me this! I'm better off without her anyways!"

This left Optimus stunned and Jetfire took that opportunity to managed to shove him away before leaving his office. Optimus' gold optics took on a sympathetic look, knowing what would come of this if Jetfire continued to reject Valerie.

"If you continue going down this path, it'll be too late to stop what will happen next." Optimus said quietly. "She will end up taking her life and you'll end up losing your sparkmate forever, Jetfire. And all because of your jealousy and stubbornness."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire was fuming with anger after he left Optimus' office. How dare he say it was his fault that Valerie was in the state she was in! It couldn't have been his fault that her blue eyes had been so cold and emotionless, how her voice had sounded so empty and monotone. He shuddered as a shiver went down his frame's back as he remembered the way she had looked at him. Was it really his fault that she was like that?

'_It's not my fault!_' He told himself. '_If it's anyone's fault, it's hers!_'

He needed to blow off some steam. Maybe blasting a few targets would do the trick. With that in mind Jetfire started heading to the training room. He suddenly remembered how her left hand had been wrapped in gauze and couldn't help but wonder why it was like that. He instantly dismissed that thought from his processor. Why should he care about what happened to her? She was no longer his concern.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As soon as the movie was over I left the rec room. I had finally decided that it was time for me to take care of the loose end I had with Jetfire. Thing is that I didn't know where he was. As I wandered down the hallway I was in I came across Scavenger, who was walking towards me from the direction he was coming from. I didn't expect him to stop before looking down at me with his yellow optics.

"If you're looking for Jetfire, then he's in the training room." Scavenger told me, his face as stern as ever. How did he know I was looking for him?

"Thanks." Was all I said as I walked off in the direction he came from.

After awhile I came upon the training room and sure enough Jetfire was there. I merely watched quietly as he shot at the many targets in the room with his blaster, seeming to be completely focused on obliterating them. I saw how the blaster left the targets in a smoking charred state and I couldn't help but suddenly think. Would it be possible for him to kill me with that blaster once I've settled my business with him? Would it be a quick death or would it be slow? Would I feel the pain of the intense heat as it burned my body to nothing? I wasn't sure, but it'd be a lot better than being in the state I was in.

I noticed that I no longer heard the sound of the blaster going off and I soon found Jetfire's gold gaze locked with my blue one. Like before they were narrowed into a glare full of hate. Again, I didn't feel anything, no emotion in response to his. He put away his blaster before leaving the room, but this time I followed him down the hallway. I didn't feel tired, my legs didn't feel sore, as I ran after him. Even when he was outside and transformed into a space shuttle I never stopped chasing after him.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Megatron sat on his throne, his thoughts causing him to boil in rage as he remembered how Starscream betrayed him by joining the Autobots. And if that hadn't been enough he had also _taken_ the Star Saber _with _him! Now those annoying Autobots had the Star Saber _and _the Skyboom Shield, leaving him with the Requiem Blaster!

'_One of these days I _will _have the Star Saber and the Skyboom Shield in my grasp!_' He thought.

"Megatron, I have some good news for you."

Megatron noticed that Thrust stood in front of him.

"And what could you _possibly _tell me that could be considered _good _news?" Megatron asked, already feeling annoyed by being interrupted by this Squidhead. Hmm… Squidhead…

"Well, I thought that you should know that the Autobots' Vice Commander and a human have wandered _away_ from their base. This is the _perfect _opportunity to take them hostage and use them as bargaining chips for the Star Saber and Skyboom Shield."

Megatron smirked. This was _good _news, indeed.

"Hmm… A perfect opportunity indeed, yeesss."

Megatron stood up from his throne and started making his way to where the warp gate was.

"W-wait! Megatron, where are you going, sir?" Thrust asked.

"Why, I'm going to pay the Autobot and human a little _visit _on my own." Megatron told him as if it was simple. "You're in charge until I return."

With that Megatron went to the warp gate and went to where his targets were.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As I continued chasing after Jetfire I noticed that we were getting farther and farther away from the base. Jetfire must've realized that I wouldn't stop chasing him and transformed in mid-air before touching down on the rocky ground below him. I was subjected to his glare as I came up to him.

"You _never _give up, do you_?_!" He growled lowly. I knew he was trying to intimidate me, but I wasn't fazed.

"You're being a total ass about this." I told him, feeling strangely calm. "You took something at face value and look where it got you."

"Yeah! It got me to where I'm being chased around by a slut!"

Something about what he said caused a stabbing pain in my heart, but it was short lived.

"You never let me explain and just assumed that I liked my secret admirer."

"Well, I can think of a few good reasons _why _you'd prefer _him _over _me_!"

"And what would those be?"

"First of all, he's _human_, then he's actually someone not involved in our war, and third he's able to come out publicly without needing to hide who and what he truly is! Plus you both would be around the same age and wouldn't have to worry about what anyone thinks when you two are together! How's that for reasons_?_! And the only person you can blame is yourself_?_!"

I suddenly felt my anger build up and I clenched my right hand into a fist to the point that my nails were digging into the palm of my hand. That bastard! Placing the blame on me for something I couldn't control!

"Why the hell are you accusing me for something I had no control over_?_! I can't help the fact that someone 'fell in love with' me or admires me! I had hoped if we were bonded you wouldn't be this jealous over something so stupid and unimportant, but apparently that's never going to happen!" I yelled, catching Jetfire off guard from my outburst. I didn't care if he was surprised that I was _yelling _at him, I wanted him to _know _how I felt about this whole situation. "I hate you. I fucking _hate _you! You're too stubborn to even _listen _to what I had to say about all this and you're going around acting as if I _betrayed _you! Well, I have news for you, _Vice Commander_: I never betrayed you! What proof do you have that I even betrayed you in the _first _place_?_! Tell me!"

Jetfire just narrowed his optics at me and I knew he was pissed, but I didn't care. I wanted an answer!

"My rank isn't a joke!"

"Oh, yeah_?_! Could've fooled me! I don't care if you're Vice Commander or something even higher than that! You certainly don't _act _like it! In fact, you don't even act like you're 270,000 years old or 27 years old in human standards! And to think Astera spoke so highly of you!"

I know that I went too far by bringing up his mother and I could tell he was beyond pissed. I knew how sensitive that topic was and I still brought it up. In what seemed to be a few seconds I found myself staring into the barrel of his blaster that he had aimed at me, his finger on the trigger as he seemed to be ready to kill me. I didn't feel scared at all, even though I knew I should be. I didn't even care that he could kill me with just a pull of a trigger.

"How _dare _you even bring my mother into this!" He growled. "Don't you dare bring _her _into this!"

"You know I'm right, _Jetfire_! Think about how she probably feels about this situation! I know for a fact that she's watching us right now and that she's probably disappointed in not just me or you, but in both of us! And to think that she wanted me to take care of you!"

"You better leave now before I decide to pull this trigger!" He was threatening me. "Sparkmate or not, it's doesn't matter to me!"

I simply glared at him as my anger seemed to go beyond the limit I thought it would've gone.

"I hope you burn in the Cybertronian equivalent of hell! But before you decide to kill me, how about you look into my mind! See if I really betrayed you as you so blatantly accused me off! My mind's open for you to read like a book! So go ahead! Do it!"

Everything was quiet as we stood there. I couldn't feel anything, but I knew there was a presence in my mind as it went around looking for something. I had nothing to hide anymore. I might as well let him see my whole life from my perspective while I was at it. I didn't care if he stumbled across something embarrassing that had occurred in the past. I didn't care if he came across all my dark thoughts or dreams. I didn't care if he found out that I tried to commit suicide yesterday. Nothing mattered to me anymore. I was ready to die now that I finally told him how much I hated him. How he had always been the one person on my mind or how he had actually made me _feel_ like someone _actually _cared about me or made me believe I _was _loved. I couldn't feel any of that anymore. I was too numb to feel anything now. All I know was that I stood there in front of him with his blaster aimed at me, the weapon that was about to take my life.

I watched as his optics widened at what he probably discovered, but it was short-lived when a blast suddenly went off and sent him to the ground. I didn't move at all, I just stood there gazing at the spot where Jetfire once stood, and that was when I saw the Decepticon leader, Megatron. Strange how I didn't feel scared at all or that I no longer had any emotions. Would he be the one to kill me and end my miserable life? I wasn't sure anymore, as long as I died that was all that mattered to me. Megatron spotted me instantly and I watched as an evil smirk appeared on his face.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't the little human femme that had delivered the Mini-Con to me the last time I came across you. A pleasant surprise, indeed." He said, sounding amused that this was the third time I've encountered him. I was reminded of when Optimus had protected me, but I merely disregarded it. It was only a memory. Memories wouldn't matter to me once I was dead. "Do you have anymore Mini-Cons for me?"

I didn't say anything. Even if I wanted to I couldn't make myself. All I could do was breathe and look around with my eyes. Megatron frowned when he saw that I wasn't going to speak.

"Apparently you don't have an answer." He suddenly reached out a hand and wrapped it around my body to the point that it was crushing me, but I didn't feel any pain. I knew for a fact that I heard something crack. "You don't even scream in pain despite the fact that you possible broke something in that weak fleshy body of yours." He glared down at me with his red eyes. "You're nothing more than a living doll incapable of doing anything!"

With that Megatron opened his hand and I suddenly found myself free falling to the ground. This was it. I was finally going to be able to die. I wasn't scared at all that my body was going to be battered beyond all repair. I was going to be released from the cruel thing known as reality. I was finally going to be free of every burden that was given to me. I would be free of all blame and accusation against me. I was going to be free of all the things that made me feel emotions. I was going to be free of everything.

"Valerie!"

I suddenly found myself landing on a hard surface, but it wasn't the ground. It was a large metal hand that I was in and it wrapped its metal fingers around my body with care. I found myself staring up into gold optics that gazed down at me with such worry. Whatever happened to the gold gaze that glared at me with so much hate? Where was the accusation and rage that I had seen not so long ago? Where had it gone? I continued to stare blankly, not feeling anything as I was held close to the Autobot symbol on his chest as Jetfire tried to avoid Megatron's attack. I didn't feel the warmth from his spark when I knew I should've. Was he…protecting me?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire did everything he could to avoid Megatron's attacks as he clutched Valerie close to his chest protectively. He couldn't handle the Decepticon leader alone and he certainly couldn't avoid the attacks forever. He needed backup now!

"Jetfire to base, come in!" He yelled as he took cover behind a boulder.

"_**Jetfire? What are you doing all the way out there?**_" He heard Red Alert's voice ask.

"I'm not exactly in a position to be answering questions at the moment! How about you try again when I'm _not _being fired upon by a certain Decepticon leader_?_!"

"_**What **__**?**_**! **_**Megatron's attacking you?**_**!**" This time it was Optimus who asked.

"No, I'm being attacked by a bunch of scraplets!" He just had to be sarcastic. "And to make matters worse I happen to have Valerie _with_ me!"

"_**Hang in there, Jetfire! We'll be on our way, but it'll be awhile until we arrive! In the meantime just continue to avoid getting hit and protect Valerie!**_"

"Like I have a choice…" He mumbled before the call ended.

Jetfire looked down at Valerie and saw how motionless she was. She seemed to be lifeless, but he knew that she was alive since she was breathing and blinking her eyes occasionally. She had been yelling at him just awhile ago and now she was in this state. It was worse than her being emotionless; it seemed like she no longer had a soul! A living doll, as Megatron called her. Speaking of Megatron, he had almost killed her! He had a feeling that she broke something when the Decepticon leader had tightened his grip on her body, but the one thing that disturbed Jetfire the most was that she never screamed, not even a reaction or an expression on her face! She didn't even react when he dropped her! She might as well be an inanimate object.

Jetfire suddenly felt guilty now that he had looked into her mind and found that she had been telling the truth all along. She had never betrayed him in the first place. He had felt the memories of her fear upon finding out she had a secret admirer and the rumors that had been spread around her school about them. He had felt her anger (something that still surprised him) when she had discovered who her secret admirer was, even going as far as punching him in the face and giving him a bloody nose while she yelled at him, saying it was his fault for what happened (what shocked him even more was that this happened today).

But the one thing that made him feel downright horrible were her dark thoughts and the events that occurred after she left the base yesterday. She had cried her heart out and he had seen the hurt expression on her face when she had tried to contact him through their connection, only to experience pain when he rejected her. He had felt the loneliness and emptiness inside her. He had watched as she chopped up vegetables, only for her to cut her left hand, yet he didn't sense her pain as blood oozed out of the injury; she didn't appear to be in any pain at all! At least that explained why her left hand was wrapped up in gauze. And then there were her thoughts of him as he realized how much she constantly thought of him. It had gotten to the point that she couldn't take it anymore and wanted to forget all about him, even regretting that she had found the Mini-Con that brought the Autobots into her life. There were also the painful thoughts of how she convinced herself that he lied to her, that he never cared about her at all and had led to believe that he did before abandoning her.

He had finally got to see her parents, Thomas and Sarah, for the first time and he heard her thoughts as she had decided to kill herself that night. He didn't even sense any conflicting thoughts as she held the scissor blade to her wrist and he knew she was dead set on committing suicide. That was until she was stopped by Sideways talking to her in her mind, and he practically heard the conversation between the two as if he were in a room with both of them. He had stopped her from taking her life, but why_?_! What reason would he have for keeping her alive? What was it that she had to fulfill on her end of their deal_?_! All he knew what that Sideways threatened to destroy everything she cared about, even taunting her with the thought of his own death. But what hurt the most were her next words: "I don't care! Nothing matters anymore!"

Jetfire wanted to cry (he really did) after finding out how much he hurt her, but he couldn't. Not now. It really was his fault that Valerie had changed, becoming so bitter and broken before ending up being the way she was now. Optimus had been right all along. He had been too stubborn to listen to anyone or his own sparkmate and had been blinded by his own jealousy for a human boy that she never even like. She had tried to tell him that it wasn't true, that she didn't have any feelings for her secret admirer when he first heard about them from Fred, but he just walked away from her. She had tried to tell him through their connection, but he just caused her pain by willing it in his processor as he rejected her. He didn't doubt that she had hoped to die at his hands the moment he aimed his blaster at her and even now she probably wanted to die. She was no longer Valerie, his Skydancer. The girl in his servo was just a shell of what she used to be, of who she used to be.

Jetfire could feel the pain in his spark from this revelation, but he knew it wasn't even close to what she had endured since the moment he walked away from her. He would never get to see her blue eyes sparkle with the love she felt for him. He would never get to see her smile at him and express how happy she was just by being around him. He were never get to see her dance for him or dance with her. Was this how his mother had felt when his father was offlined? Was this the emotional pain she had felt when she realized that she didn't have as much time to spend with her sparkmate as she originally thought?

'_What have I done?_' He thought ruefully. '_Primus, what have I done?_!'

Jetfire didn't get an answer, not that he was expecting to. Instead an explosion that had caused the boulder he was hiding behind to crumble to pieces was the only warning he got before being fired on. So it looked like the routine was set back to cat and mouse. He couldn't come up with a strategy, and even if he had one Optimus clearly told him not to engage the enemy and just continue to evade the attacks. Flying was out of the question since he'd be wide open for an attack. He shuddered at the thought of a hit-and-run strategy since it'd only serve to put Valerie in even more danger.

"Slaggit! Where's reinforcements when you _need_ them_?_!" He asked no one in particular. "I can't keep dodging his attacks _forever_!"

Jetfire managed to find another place to take cover behind as he continued to wait for backup. He gold optics fell on Valerie's form and he felt his spark sink in sadness. Even in her seemingly lifeless state, was she aware of what was going on around her? Was she able to hear what was happening? Could she still hear him? He honestly didn't know. He when he tried to feel her current emotions and thoughts through their connection he seemed to come to a dead end. It was as if he were standing in an empty room with nothing inside it. All that left him to see were her memories and her past emotions. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve such a horrible fate.

"Valerie! I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I want you to know that I'm sorry! I know this may sound like a half aft excuse of an apology, but I promise to give you the extended version if we ever make it out of here alive!" He told her. "Primus! I wish you could respond somehow or give me some way of knowing that you can hear my words!"

Suddenly the boulder behind him crumbled to pieces and Jetfire turned around to find Megatron standing some distance away from his, giving him an evil smirk as he saw the enjoyment in his red optic, the enjoyment one got when killing innocents.

"It would seem like our little _game_ of hide and seek has _finally_ come to an _end_, Autobot." Megatron said. He chuckled darkly. "And here I thought that human femme in _your_ servos was nothing more than your pet." Jetfire's anger flared up when he called Valerie his 'pet'. How degrading, even for a human! "To think that a Cybertronian and a human could end up being sparkmates. How the _mighty_ have fallen, especially for the Vice Commander of the Autobots." Megatron frowned. "How disgusting that Primus would see fit of choosing to pair a Cybertronian, a _superior_ being, with a _weak_ fleshling such as the one you are holding!"

Suddenly Megatron was hit from behind by gunfire and Jetfire felt relief flood his processor when he saw Optimus, Hot Shot, Blurr…and Starscream_?_!

'_Oh, brother…_' Jetfire thought. '_Here we go again…in 3...2...1..._'

"MEGATRON! I HAVE YOU NOW!"

'_Aaannnddd right on que…_'

Jetfire wasn't the least bit surprised at all. In fact, he saw this coming from a mile away. He should've known that Optimus would've brought him along. Well, at least he brought the Star Saber with him. As the others took care of Megatron, Jetfire gazed down at Valerie to find that she was looking at him with dull blue eyes, which caught him by surprise. He cycled his vents, not sure what to make of this.

"You're looking at me, so apparently that's a good sign." He told her. "But I want to know for sure: can you hear what I'm saying? Blink once for 'no' and twice for 'yes.'"

He waited anxiously for her reaction and held his breath. Upon seeing her blink her eyes twice he let out the breath he was holding.

"Good. Are you aware of what's going on around you right now?"

She blinked twice.

"I want you to know that help's finally arrived." Jetfire turned her body carefully so that she was looking at the battle that was taking place at the moment. "See? They finally arrived to help us." He turned her to face himself again. "We'll finally be able to get out of this mess…and I'll be able to give you a proper apology."

Valerie didn't respond and instead blinked occasionally like all humans did. Jetfire looked back at the battle just in time to witness Megatron retreating. Optimus and the others came over to him.

"Are you alright, Jetfire?" Optimus asked.

"I'm okay. I may be dinged up in a few places, but nothing that's gonna slow me down." He told him honestly. "And I see you brought Starbucks with you."

"_Starbucks_? Where in the world did you get that one?" Starscream asked, giving Jetfire a puzzled look.

"Well, you're name's _**Star**_scream and you happened to give Megatron a run for his _money_, hence _bucks_. Plus, Starbucks happens to be a place where humans buy coffee."

The ex-Decepticon growled in slight irritation.

"What_?_! You nicknamed me after a place where humans buy hot _caffeinated_ drinks from_?_! How absurd!"

"Just chill, Starscream!" Hot Shot said, trying to be a peacekeeper. "Jetfire was only joking, that's all! No harm meant by it!"

"…Whatever."

"Okay, men. I need you three to head back to base for now." Optimus told the others.

"Are you sure about this?" Blurr asked.

"I'm positive. I need to talk with Jetfire in private anyways."

With that Hot Shot, Blurr, and Starscream headed back to the base, leaving Jetfire and Optimus alone. The Autobot leader's gaze fell on Valerie and they seemed to soften in sadness as upon seeing her in her motionless state.

"How is she?" He asked quietly, and Jetfire could hear the sadness in his voice.

"She…" Jetfire shook his head. "I don't know anymore. All I know is that she can hear us both talking and is aware of what going on around her. Other than that, she's been in this lifeless state." He glanced down at Valerie and was painfully reminded of her condition. "It's like she's no longer herself anymore." He looked back up at Optimus. "She never betrayed me, and yet I rejected her as if she did. I saw her memories of what she's gone through yesterday and it only makes the guilt I feel even worst. It's painful knowing that the last emotion she felt for me was hate. I don't know what to do now, Optimus. I don't know what to do about her."

Optimus placed a servo on Jetfire's shoulder as if to give reassurance.

"It's not too late, Jetfire. You can still bring her back." This caught the shuttle mech's attention and he felt somewhat hopeful. "You need to tell her how you feel. Show that you still care about her."

"Optimus…"

"You've both been through your fair shares of hardships. You'll need each other more than ever now that this has occurred. Take the time to reestablish your connection."

With that Optimus transformed and drove away in the direction of the base. Jetfire didn't bother transforming and just merely took off into the sky with Valerie still in his servo close to his chest. I glanced down at her, only to see that she blankly stared ahead before he looked up.

"You loved gazing at the sky whenever you got the chance." Jetfire started. "That's what you told me when I took you outside the base to see the morning sky, when I first saw you dancing. I gave you the nickname Skydancer because of that. You also told me how you wished you could fly. Remember when I took you flying when you were feeling upset and almost killed yourself?"

Jetfire knew that she wouldn't be able to respond with words and that she wouldn't feel any emotions from being told about the memories he told her about. He just hoped by telling her these things that she'd remember the good times they had together and how happy they had been before this whole mess took place yesterday. He wanted to hold onto the thought that somewhere deep inside her she subconsciously responding to what he told her, that she'd remember the memory of the emotions she had felt in the past, that the old Valerie was still there. Was it too much to hope for? Would he really be able to bring her out of this lifeless state? Optimus seemed to believe so.

'_I just hope this works…_' He thought.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire eventually landed in a place that was close to the Autobot base, but far enough away from it so that we wouldn't be interrupted. He placed me on the ground so that I was standing on my own before he sat down in front of me. He gazed down at me with his gold optics and I knew that he was thinking of what to say. Was he expecting me to do something? He sighed.

"Valerie. I know you can't feel anything or respond in any way from what I about to say. I just…need to know that you will be willing to listen before you make your final decision on what to do next. I have a feeling that you'd still be mad at me if you could." Jetfire said. "I've been a total aft to you this whole time, and it wasn't until I saw your memories that I realized I've been falsely accusing you of something you never did."

I didn't do anything except stare up at him. I couldn't feel any emotions in response to his words, just like he said. Jetfire seemed to realize something and adverted his gaze.

"Slaggit! Let me try something else."

With that Jetfire's optics deactivated before his holoform materialized out of nowhere and stood in front of me, the sunlight making his dark reddish-brown hair shine as he gazed at me with the same gold eyes that had once haunted my mind. I could see his emotions in them, the sincere sadness and regret.

"I was wrong when I said you betrayed me. I was too stubborn and didn't let you explain your side of the story. I've…I've been alone for so long while fighting in this war, long before you were even born. I've gone around looking for my sparkmate, for you, for 70,000 years. I was about to give up hope of ever finding the last and only source of happiness in my life, but then I saw you for the first time that night when you found that Mini-Con. I promised that I'd protect you, that I'd never hurt you, but I ended up breaking those promises."

I felt something stir inside my, something in response to his words.

"I got jealous that some human boy had his eyes on you and I thought he'd try to take you away from me. I'm so possessive of you that I can't help but be territorial."

I felt…surprised…when a tear fell from his eyes before releasing a shaky breath. He approached me and gently took my right hand in his larger one. I felt a faint warmth coming from his hand.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for putting you through all this. I just didn't want to lose you to someone else." He was actually crying. I've never seen him cry before. There had been a few times that he appeared he wanted to, but held back the tears. And now here he was, crying because of me. "I love you. I'll make it up to you someday. I just…want _my _Skydancer back. I want _you _back."

My throat tightened a bit as I suddenly felt something wet slide down my cheeks and I realized I was crying. Like a wave all my emotions came at me at once, but the ones I felt the most were sadness, regret, slight relief, and touched. He wasn't lying to me. I didn't think someone could just cry like he was and not show so many emotions in their eyes, especially when every time he wanted to cry he usually held back. I could suddenly feel his presence in my mind as I watched his eyes widen. I could feel his emotions, his surprise at seeing that I was crying, that I was able to feel again. He could feel my emotions. I opened my mouth, my bottom lip quivering as I did so.

"Jetfire…" I said softly.

"Valerie!"

I suddenly found myself being held close to Jetfire as he embraced me. The emptiness I had felt was gone with his return. I could feel his love and relief flood my mind through our connection, causing me to cry in relief as well. I wrapped my arms around his waist as I returned his hug and buried my face into his chest. I felt one of his hands being placed on the back of my head, his fingers weaving themselves through my hair.

"I'm sorry." I told him. "I'm so sorry, Jetfire."

"Shh… It's okay now, Skydancer. It's okay…" He whispered.

I felt myself calm down eventually and I managed to stop crying. I missed this. I had missed the way Jetfire always held me like this, how he always expressed how much he loved me through the connection, how he made me feel so complete, even just being around him and hearing him talk to me. I can't believe I wanted to throw this all away, that I wanted to forget all about him. I can't believe I had felt regret for finding that Mini-Con and becoming apart of the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

"Could you sing to me? Just this once?"

I felt Jetfire's surprise from hearing my request and I knew he hadn't expected me to ask him that. His surprise soon changed to happiness and love.

"Okay. Just this once."

_**Beyond the sun  
**__**Beyond the moon  
**__**There are the stars  
**__**In the night sky**_

In my head I imaged the sun and moon in space, followed by a night sky filled with countless stars that shined with beauty.

_**Beyond the skies  
**__**Among the stars  
**__**In quiet wait  
**__**Home Cybertron**_

I imagined looking beyond the sky, going far into the black nothingness known as space with stars scattered around, among them being a huge metal planet. Was that Cybertron? I didn't know what it would look like, so did that mean that Jetfire was showing me what Cybertron looked like?

_**Rest in peace  
**__**In my embrace  
**__**And listen to this lullaby**_

Jetfire's voice sounded the same as it did in the dream I had of him singing Mustang Sally. I recognized the song as the Cybertronian Lullaby, but this time it was in English. Was that really what the words meant in the song? Despite the fact that he didn't like to sing I found Jetfire's voice to be strangely soothing, even if it sounded slightly rough (but in a good way).

"Thank you." I said when he finished. "Thank you."

"It's the least I can do."

Jetfire pulled back a bit so he could look at me. I gazed up into his gold eyes, seeing the love he had for me. He brought his face close to mine before our lips locked together for a chaste kiss. He pulled back slightly before kissing me again, this time lasting a little longer, but that was as far as it went. I suddenly noticed how tired I was and the pain I felt on my right side. I flinched and pulled my face away slightly as I hissed quietly. How was it that I didn't notice this earlier?

"What's wrong, Valerie?" Jetfire asked, his voice filled with worry.

"My right side hurts." I told him, my fatigue seeming to catch up to me. "I feel a little tired."

"Hang on! I'll get you back to the base and have Red Alert check you out!"

Jetfire's holoform disappeared and his bi-pedal form's gold optics activated before he transformed into a shuttle. He reactivated his holoform, scooped me up into his arms, and carried me inside his vehicle mode. He placed me in one of the many seats inside him and the safety harness buckled itself across my chest. Jetfire left his holoform up as his true form started flying back to the Autobot base, kneeling down beside the seat I was in as his eyes watched me. I absentmindedly started stroking the leather seat with my good hand, which caused not only the shuttle to shudder, but Jetfire's holoform to do the same as well. His eyes were shut as he let out a quiet moan. My eyes widened when I realized what I was doing and stopped stroking the seat as my face heated up. Both the shuttle and the holoform stopped shuddering at once.

"S-sorry…" I said, feeling embarrassed.

"It's fine." He told me, his voice sounding slightly strained. "I probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't so worried about your health." I felt my eyelids grow heavy as they started drooping. Jetfire must've noticed since he placed a hand on the side of my face in a comforting way and I leaned into his touch. "Get some rest, Skydancer. I know you're tired after what's happened."

My eyes continued to droop as I was reminded of how tired I was. I was asleep as soon as my eyes closed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire watched as Valerie closed her eyes. He kept his hand on the side of her face, feeling worried yet relieved that he had his Skydancer back. Before he knew it he arrived at the base and deactivated his holoform before carefully transforming back into his bi-pedal form without harming Valerie. He immediately started making his way to the med bay, where he found Red Alert. The blue mech just stared at him, his arms folded across his chest and foot tapping on the metal floor. It was as if he was expecting something.

"What?" Jetfire asked, wanting to know _why _Red Alert was looking at him like _that_.

I believe you owe me an explanation, Jetfire." Red Alert told him plainly.

Oh…

"We, as in Valerie and I, went away from the base and had an argument. The whole issue was about to be settled until Megatron decided to show up for a visit. You know the rest, but we just made up with each other not too long ago!"

"And Valerie?"

"She ended up falling asleep, but before that she told me her right side was hurting her."

"Let me see her."

Red Alert held his servo out to Jetfire, who had no choice but to comply with the blue mech and give Valerie over to him. The blue mech handled the girl with great care as he placed her on a berth and because to scan her.

"What_?_!" Red Alert exclaimed in surprise and he whipped around to face Jetfire. The shuttle mech flinched as the phrase 'if looks could kill…' popped into his mind when he saw the look on his face. "Were you even aware that she happened to have a fractured rib and showed signs of not eating?"

So that's why he was giving him that look.

"Nooo, I wasn't aware at all."

"I want you to tell me _what_ happened, in _detail_!" Uh oh. Things weren't good when Red Alert started demanding information.

'_He _is_ a medic, so I can't exactly _blame _him._' Jetfire thought.

"Well, for one thing, you don't need to yell at me-!"

"Do you want me to take after my mentor and chuck a wrench at you?" Red Alert threatened.

Jetfire's gold optics widened in horror when he saw the transformer sized wrench that seemed to appear in the blue mech's servo from out of nowhere (he didn't even recall seeing him pick it up). He didn't even need to know that that the object was very much as solid, heavy, and unforgiving as it looked. It didn't help that Jetfire was reminded of the first time he went to the med bay back on Cybertron when he was still in training.

"No, no! As much as I've _enjoyed _my experiences in the med bay, I don't need to experience _that _again! Ratchet made it _very _clear that I should _avoid _getting hurt and being sent _to _the med bay as much as possible! Personally I thought you'd have a little _more _compassion than him!"

"I'm going to count to three and you better start explaining before I hit one."

"C'mon! We're both civilized mechs-!"

"…3...2..."

"Okay! Okay! I'll explained! As you know Megatron ambushed us, and it was just him alone! He shot at me and managed to grab Valerie! He tightened his hold on her and dropped her, but I managed to catch her in my servos! I basically got a dents from protecting her long enough for Optimus and the others to arrive!" Jetfire explained quickly, his voice obviously frantic.

"And the starvation?"

"I have no clue how that happened! Honestly!"

Red Alert regarded Jetfire before rummaging around the room and came over to the berth Valerie was on with some sort of bandages that looked weird. He placed them on the surface before activating his holoform.

"Luckily her fracture isn't severe. As long as she gets enough rest she should be able to do normal physical activities between three to six weeks, but she'll have to take it easy for now." Red Alert's holoform turned to look up at him. "Are you going to just stand there or are you going to help me?"

"What_?_! You want _me _to help _you_?" Jetfire asked, unsure if his audio receptors heard correctly.

"That's exactly what I said. Now hurry up and activate your holoform, Jetfire."

Jetfire cycled his vents before activating his holoform, materializing at Valerie's side. He looked at Red Alert's holoform, wondering what he was supposed to do. His eyes widened when Red Alert started to take Valerie's shirt off and he started freaking out!

"What are you doing, Red Alert_?_!" Yep. He was definitely freaking out over the fact that the medic was taking off _his _sparkmate's shirt! He had every right to be feeling the way he did right now.

"Unless you have a different method of treating a fractured rib, then I suggest you don't complain. At the moment her modesty isn't exactly top priority."

'_But it's _my _top priority!_' Jetfire thought.

Red Alert managed to get Valerie's shirt off so that he could have a clear view of the her right side. Jetfire winched slightly upon seeing the bruise that had formed over a spot along her rib cage.

"Jetfire, I'm going to need you to stretch her right arm over her head so that I can stabilize the fractured rib with the KT tape."

So that was what those things were called. Jetfire complied and sat down so that he could pull Valerie up into a sitting position and have her leaning against him as he stretched her right arm over her head. It took all his willpower to suppress the shiver he felt upon feeling her bare skin and he had to get rid of the thoughts that entered his processor. Red Alert started placing the KT tape on her right side in a way that reminded Jetfire of a splint of some sort. He couldn't help but wonder how doing this was supposed to stabilize Valerie's fractured rib, but when he looked up the method the medic was using he realized that it was actually effective on humans. Weird…

Red Alert was soon done and got Valerie's shirt back on her person before he deactivated his holoform. Jetfire did the same and the blue mech looked over at him.

"Since she spends most of her time with you, you need to make sure Valerie takes some pain relievers for the pain and encourage her to cough frequently so she doesn't get pneumonia, and remind her to constantly breath normally even if it hurts. Like I said earlier, she's going to need to rest so make sure she does that too." Jetfire noticed that Red Alert had a small bottle in his servos, which he handed over to him and the shuttle mech saw that it said 'ibuprofen.' "Have her take that pain reliever when she wakes up."

"Okay, will do." Jetfire replied.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

My mind felt groggy when I woke up. I found myself staring up at a metal ceiling and I turned my head to my right to find Jetfire next to the berth I was on with his head leveled with the metal surface.

"Jetfire." I said before sighing in relief. I soon regretted doing that since I suddenly felt pain and started coughing.

"Take it easy, Valerie." Jetfire said and I soon saw his holoform next to me. When did he activate it? Jetfire took out a small bottle along with a bottled water and placed them down before shifting behind me. He carefully pulled me up into a sitting position and I ended up leaning against his chest as he held me. It was when four familiar red tablets had been placed in my hand that I realized it was ibuprofen. "Red Alert wanted me to make sure you took these when you woke up. It should held with the pain."

"Pain relievers. An accident prone person's best ally when it comes to everyday hardships." I popped the tablets in my mouth before taking the water bottle Jetfire offered me to down the pills. I looked at him. "What happened?"

"Turns out you fractured on of your ribs when Megatron had you. Also, Red Alert found out that you haven't been eating recently. What happened?" I looked away from Jetfire as I suddenly felt the guilty. I heard him sigh, seeming as if he realized what I did. "When did you start doing this to yourself?"

"Yesterday. I didn't eat dinner that day, and today I didn't have breakfast or lunch. I didn't feel hungry at all and didn't realize what it was doing to me. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. I'll take care of you. I'll even make sure you eat something once you've gotten some more rest."

"But I'm…not tired." I protested.

"You might not be, but you still need plenty of rest if you want your rib to heal in the next three weeks or so. Doctor's orders." I giggled quietly, but I stopped when I found that hurt as well. It hurt to breathe. "Just keep breathing normally. No pain, no gain, as the saying goes."

"I so accident prone. First my head, then my hands, then my left arm and left hand, and now a fractured rib on my right side."

"You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all."

"I wish that were true."

Jetfire chuckled quietly.

"C'mon, kiddo. Get some rest." He told me.

'_But I want to spend more time with you._' I thought.

_**{Don't worry, Skydancer. I'll stay with you for as long as I can while you sleep. And I'll spend more time with you when you got to sleep tonight.}**_

I shut my eyes as I allowed a small smile to appear on my face.

'_I look forward to that…_'

That was my last thought before I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

ATE: That's it for this long chapter. If you managed to survive this long, then kudos! I actually cried when I wrote most of the emotional parts in this chapter, and I also had an interesting time writing Starscream, Optimus, and Megatron's POVs, but mostly Starscream's. I actually thought of Dinobot from Beast Wars (don't own) when it came to his personality since they're both similar, but what I enjoyed the most was giving him a child-like curiosity for human culture (and what better way than to have him watch a Disney movie?). I also included Silverbolt since it was bound to happen eventually. If anyone has any ideas they'd like to share, feel free to do so and I'll give credit. Please remember to review! ;D


	14. Crack

ATE: I can't believe it's taken me almost a month to update. And it seems like by the time I update this story the chapters get longer! This was 75 microsoft word document pages long in 12 font! That's longer than the last chapter! Anyways, I'd like to thank **Diamond White**, **Crystalmaiden62**, **Zeltrax541**, **Sailor Shinzo**, **kaitamis**, **Bumblebeecamaro38**, **TheLoveDov**, **DarkButterfly128**, **Manderss.x.x**, and **Azura Soul Reaver** for their reviews so far. Also, big thanks go out to **Diamond White **and **Crystalmaiden62** for their ideas I used in this chapter. Not only will the first half of this chapter contain a filler, but the last half contains the events of Episode 37: Crack. And according to my sources, Episode 37 happens to be the last episode in season one of Transformers Armada. That also means that the next chapter will be the start of season two, which is also Episode 38. Enough on my part, you're all wanting the read the chapter, so enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation, or any of the songs I use in this chapter. I only own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

WARNING: This chapter contains certain material that falls under the M rating for a reason. No flames.

PS: This chapter contains references to my stories Astera and Trypanophobia. If you get confused, you can read those stories if you haven't done so yet.

* * *

Chapter 14: Crack

After I had rested up a bit in the med bay I started to freak out when I saw it was around 6:49 pm. I was beyond grateful that Jetfire agreed to take me home and I now sat in one of the seats inside his shuttle form with the safety harness carefully around me,. I was tempted to fidget around, but after the first time I learned that was a bad idea since it caused my side to hurt.

"Why are you so worried, Skydancer?" Jetfire asked. I had no doubt that he sense my emotions through our connection.

"Mom and Dad are home around this time and I know they'll be wondering where I am." I told him.

"I'm sure everything will be fine. Just relax for now."

The trip ended sooner than I wanted it to when Jetfire landed in the woods behind my house and new worries invaded my mind.

"Stop worrying so much!" Jetfire tried to send me reassurance, but it did little to help me. His holoform materialized in front of me as he knelt down to be eye leveled with me.

"I can't help it! How am I going to explain my fractured rib? Tell them I fell out of a tree whiling climbing?"

"That's exactly what you're gonna tell them. It wouldn't be far from the truth since Megatron dropped you after causing you to get hurt."

I hung my head as I was reminded of what happened today. I hadn't felt it at the time it occurred, but not that I looked back on the memory I was terrified at how close I had been to dying. I dismissed the memory before looking up at Jetfire's face and I knew he had been aware of what I had been thinking.

"How am I going to explain you? Mom and Dad are going to be suspicious when they see you with me, and I can't exactly say you're my guardian like we did with Dr. Vernon." I stated.

"Oh…" I saw the realization in Jetfire's gold eyes before he got a thoughtful look. "Lemme see if I can fix this."

I was confused and opened my mouth to ask him what he meant by 'fix,' but the words never came when Jetfire closed his eyes and his holoform started flickering. My mouth hung open as his features started changing, starting with his height which shrunk considerably. His face seemed to get slightly fuller, seeming to get younger before his holoform stopped flicker. He opened his eyes and I was surprised to find myself staring into the face of a younger looking Jetfire. His appearance made him look to be around my age. He grinned, his eyes seeming to sparkle in amusement from seeing my reaction.

"Well?" He asked, his voice sounding the same with the exception of it being younger. "How do I look?"

I felt my face heat up from hearing his voice and from his appearance. Even though he made his holoform look younger he was still hot. Jetfire smirked and my face got warmer as I realized he knew what was going through my mind. He chuckled before placing a hand (which had gotten smaller from the changes) on the side of my face, causing my heart to beat faster.

"C'mon, Skydancer! I know I can hear your thoughts and all, but I want to hear you actually say it."

"Y-you…l-look cute…" I stuttered.

"What? That's not the same as what you thought a few seconds ago!"

"Please stop teasing me for one minute and help me get to my house."

Jetfire sighed.

"Fine."

The safety harness across my chest undid itself before his holoform helped me move around as he supported me. I hissed in pain because I was being moved. Jetfire winced slightly from the sound.

"You can feel the pain I'm in?" I asked.

"Not exactly. I know enough to know you're in pain if I'm not around, but not actually _feel_ it." He explained. "When we're bonded to each other I will, unless you manage to block it from me. The same can be said the other way around."

After some time we managed to get around the house so that we stood outside the front door. I tried to ignore the pain as I reached over to ring the doorbell. It wasn't long before Mom answered the door, only to be surprised when she saw me.

"Valerie! You're hurt!" She cried.

"Tell me something I don't know." I smiled before laughing, only to wince in pain.

"Come on in!"

Mom had us come inside and made me sit on the couch. I would've rolled my eyes as she piled numerous pillows behind my back and around me in order to provide me with comfort.

"Mom, I can understand that you're worried about me, but don't you think you're overdoing it with the pillows?" I asked.

"Nonsense! My baby is hurt and I need to make sure you get better." Oh god… This was so embarrassing and what made it worse was that Jetfire was listening to the whole thing. "By the way, who's this?"

I glanced at Jetfire out of the corner of my eye since he was seated beside me on the couch.

"Mom. This is my friend, Jason Flynn."

I could feel Jetfire's confusion through our connection.

_**{'Jason Flynn'?}**_ He asked.

'_It's a lot better than "Jet Fyre". Plus I said that was your name when she asked me what happened at school yesterday, and I didn't tell her that you were a giant alien robot._' I told him.

"So you're Jason Flynn." Mom said. "Valerie told me all about you, and from what she said you seem to be quite the character."

"Really?" Jetfire asked.

_**{We're going to have a talk.}**_

"That's right." Mom turned to look at me. "Let me get your father so that you can tell us what happened."

Mom left the living room to get Dad. I could feel Jetfire's eyes boring into me as I twiddled my thumbs nervously. I knew he was waiting for me to explain.

_**{Well?} **_He asked.

'_I didn't tell her anything about you guys and the war. As far as she knows, you're just a boy that happens to go to the same school as I do._' I said. '_I told her that you were a nice guy who always managed to cheer me up whenever I was sad._'

_**{That's good. But why didn't you tell her that we were…uh, 'dating'?}**_

'_Because she'd be surprised if I did._' My face heated up. '_But I have a feeling that she thinks I like you when I told her you go jealous about the secret admirer._'

_**{Of course you do!} **_Jetfire stated. _**{We're sparkmates, remember?}**_

'_I know, but if I told her that then all hell would break loose in this house._' I sighed. '_When we're-I mean when I'm older we'll be able to go up to both my parents and tell them that we're engaged to each other._'

I could feel Jetfire's amusement from my slipup.

_**{You **_**sliiiipped!**_** Just because I made my holoform look younger doesn't change the fact that I'm still me. I forgot what it was like being 140,000 years old.}**_ He said the last part thoughtfully and leaned back into the couch. _**{Cyber puberty was **_**not **_**fun at all!}**_

My face heated up and I didn't need to ask what he was talking about. Luckily I recovered in time just as Mom and Dad walked into the living room, but I started feeling nervous again.

"What happened?" Dad asked.

"I fell out of a tree I was climbing while I was with my friends." I told them. "Carlos got a kite and it got stuck in a tree so I offered to retrieve it."

"It's true, sir." Jetfire suddenly added. "I tried to catch her when she fell, but she still fractured her rib."

"She fractured a rib?" Mom asked, completely surprised.

"Yeah. But as least I was able to bring her back here after it happened."

"Thank you so much, Jason." Jetfire was taken by surprise when Mom suddenly hugged him. I was tempted to laugh when I sensed how awkward he felt, but I managed to resist. "Valerie couldn't ask for a better friend."

Not again…

"Since you have fractured your rib, you'll be staying home for the next two weeks."

"What? I'm not grounded?" I asked.

"No. You're not going to school for two weeks. After the first week you can leave the house, but no physical activity of any kind until the two weeks are over. You can still see your friends, but you'll only be able to watch from the side lines if they decide to play tag or climbs trees."

I sighed in relief. I wasn't going to be grounded. But then I realized that I wouldn't be allowed out of the house for the first week and it caused me to feel disappointed. Jetfire sent me reassurance, letting me know that it was going to be okay.

"Sure I wouldn't mind." Jetfire suddenly said.

I suddenly felt confused and I realized that I missed the rest of the conversation.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Jason agreed to help you get to your room so you can rest before he has to leave." Mom told me.

'_What…?_'

I lost my train of thought when Jetfire suddenly pulled me up to my feet (but at the same time he did it carefully so that I didn't hurt myself) before leading me up the stairs to my room. He helped me sit down on my bed and I was about to tell him 'thanks' when he suddenly kissed me, causing my face to heat up from the unexpected display of affection. I couldn't help but worry about my parents coming in. Before I could really enjoy the kiss Jetfire pulled away with a smile on his young looking face.

"I'll be back soon." He told me.

"Where are you going?" I asked quietly, feeling confused.

"I have to 'leave', remember? I gotta keep up the act of being a 'human teenager'. I'll be back before you know it."

With that Jetfire left my room and closed the door behind him. I lightly touched my fingers to my lips and felt my face heat up as I remembered the feeling of his warm lips on mine. I wasn't sure if I'd ever get used to him kissing me with so much love put into it.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire was making his way down the stairs in order to inform Valerie's parents that he helped her get to her room before he had to 'leave'. But what they didn't know what that he wasn't even going to be leaving at all. He would just deactivate his holoform before letting it activate in her room, after all. But so far trying to maintain his holoform after the changes he made to it so that he looked younger was slowly starting to tire him out slightly. Jetfire had a feeling that the holoforms Red Alert created weren't supposed to be altered beyond what he allowed them to make them look like before he installed the holomatters into each of the Autobots (including himself). The only thing that wasn't a problem with changing the holoform's appearance were the clothing they made them wear (with the clothing they wore being anything they wanted it to be, or lack thereof). Hopefully he wouldn't have to keep up his holoform's appearance for long. He walked into the living room where Valerie's parents were and gave them a smile.

"I helped Valerie get to her room." He told them. "I'll be going now."

"Hold on for a minute, Jason." Valerie's father told him when he tried to head to the front door. If he remembered correct, her father's name was Thomas. Thomas came up to him and placed a fatherly hand on his shoulder. The action felt strange to Jetfire since his own father hadn't be around for most of his life (his last memory of his father was when he was teaching him how to fly and when he had gotten the call back into action). "I'd like to have a word with you before you leave, if you don't mind?"

"Not at all, sir."

Thomas lead him over to where the front door was away from where Valerie's mother (Sarah) was preparing food in the kitchen.

"You don't need to call me 'sir'. Mr. Smith will suffice." He gave Jetfire a kind smile. "I can't help but wonder why you keep calling me that, though. Was your own father in the army?"

"Actually yes, he was. I didn't really know him that well or remember him since he was killed in action when I was just 5 years old. Mom didn't take it so well when we got the news and she did everything she could to raise me ever since."

"I'm…sorry to hear that." He could see the sympathetic look on Thomas' face and he couldn't help but think of how much it reminded him of Valerie. Maybe that's where she got it from. "The reason why I wanted to talk to you before you leave is because I want to discuss my daughter with you."

"You want to talk to be about Valerie?" Now Jetfire hadn't expected this at all.

Thomas nodded.

"Valerie has never really had many friends in her life, let alone expressed any interest in boys. Yesterday was the first time she ever talked about another by like she did when she told us about you. She said that you 'practically made it your mission to help her when you learned about how low her self-esteem was' and how you always tried to cheer her up when she's sad."

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but why are you telling me this?" Jetfire had a feeling where Thomas was going with this, but he wasn't sure.

"Because I want you to know that I approve of you wanting to be with my daughter. But I must warn you that if you try to hurt her or break her heart, I won't forgive you. I can understand why you may have been jealous yesterday when you learned that she had a secret admirer and I'm glad you two made up, but I'd never seen her behave the way she did yesterday, and it's because of that that I know that she has feelings for you. So treat her well, okay?"

"Will do, Mr. Smith." Jetfire smiled. "I better get going now. Thanks for your approval."

With that Jetfire went through the front door and once he was outside he made sure that he was a fair distance away before deactivating his holoform. He activated his holoform again and it materialized inside Valerie's room.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I jumped when Jetfire's holoform appeared in front of me. He merely grinned at me, but it seemed like he looked tired. He tiredly came over to my bed before collapsing on top of it while he faced me. I could see that he looked tired.

"Jetfire? Are you okay?" I asked him, feeling concerned.

"Just tired from having to maintain my holoform's appearance, that's all." He told me slowly and I could hear the slight exhaustion in his voice. "Apparently I wasn't meant to adjust my holoform's age like I did since I realized it takes more energy out of me."

I carefully laid down on my left side so that I was gazing into his young face. I placed a hand on his cheek and watched as he slowly closed his eyes before opening them to stare at me.

"You don't need to keep up your appearance. If it's making you so tired then change your holoform back to what it originally looked like."

Jetfire sighed and closed his eyes before his holoform flickered as his features changed back to what they were before he changed them. It was so strange watching how his body grew back into the adult form it had been and how his face had lost the slight baby fat that it had. He opened his eyes to look at me and gave me a tired smiled which I returned with one of my own. Jetfire scooted closer to me and draped an arm over my waist as his face was close to mine.

"Are you comfortable?" I asked.

"Yep. I feel like I could fall into recharge any minute…" His voice even sounded tired.

"But won't you have to go back to the base?"

"No." Jetfire shook his head. "I talked to Optimus while you were resting in the med bay, and he allowed me to stay with you for a week while you're recovering."

"What about next week?"

"We'll…cross that bridge when we get there…"

My face heated up slightly when he nuzzled his face into my neck before sighing. Despite this I smiled before slowly running my fingers through his holoform's hair and I could feel his body relax.

"Get some sleep, Jetfire…" I said quietly. "I'll be here with you the whole time."

"Thank you…Skydancer…"

I could hear Jetfire's breathing start to get deeper as he fell asleep. Aside having to maintain his holoform with the changes he made, maybe everything else that happened today made him tired as well. He did protect me from Megatron when I was nothing more than a vegetable and there were a few times when he got hit while he did so, too. All that, just for me. I can't believe I had told him I hated him earlier.

"I don't hate you, Jetfire." I whispered, even though he probably couldn't hear me. "I could never hate you. I love you too much to even think that now."

I slowly closed my eyes before I fell asleep.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_I looked around the familiar black void I was in, feeling slightly lonely as I remembered the last time I was here. A pair of arms wrapped around me from behind and I couldn't help but smile, feeling relief as I leaned back into the solid form behind me. I closed my eyes before I felt him nuzzling the crook of my neck with his face mask._

_**{I heard you.} **Jetfire said, his slightly vibrating face mask tickling me as he spoke and caused me to laugh quietly. I had a feeling that he was smirking behind his face mask. **{I love you as well, Skydancer.}**_

_I continued laughing as his face mask vibrated against my neck, but what made it worse was that he joined in chuckling as well. Me laughing from being tickled while he laughed at my expense which seemed to create a never ending cycle of laughter. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe, so I tried to calm myself down. I was able to after some time and Jetfire managed to stop laughing as well. I breathed in deeply and sighed._

"_I don't feel any pain." I said._

_Jetfire moved his head before placing it on top of mine._

_**{Weeell, that's probably because this is a **_**dream**_**} **__He chuckled. __**{At least you don't feel the same pain as your body does in the real world here. That's one good thing about dreams sometimes.}**_

"_Yeah. So what took you so long to get back to my room?"_

_**{Your Dad stopped me so that he could give me a talk before I 'left'. Turns out that he approves of me being with you. He thinks that we're **_**dating **_**each other, although that isn't exactly far from the truth.}**__ I could hear the smirk in his voice. __**{And before you start worrying about your parents, they left before I came back inside.}**_

"_Good." I sighed before twisting my body around in his hold so I could look at his face. "Good news is that they'll both be busy with work this week, so you'll be able to stick around while they're gone."_

_**{And that's going to help since I'll be taking care of you.}**_

"_Taking care of me? You mean like a nurse?"_

_**{What?} **__His optics were wide in fake surprise. __**{Nooo! Not as a NURSE! As a CAREGIVER! Do I honestly look like**__**a nurse **_**or **_**a nanny to you?}**_

_I couldn't help but laugh as I imagined Jetfire dressed up in an old fashion nurse uniform that women wore. Okay, maybe it wouldn't have worked for him in his robotic form (although the idea _was _hilarious), but in his human form it would've worked more naturally. _

_**{Stop it!} **Jetfire growled quiet as he narrowed his gold optics at me and trying to intimidate me. I knew he was aware of my current thoughts of him wearing the nursing uniform. His expression had the opposite effect and I only ended up laughing harder at his expense. His voice then took on a complaining tone. **{It's not funny, Skydancer!}**_

"_I'm…sorry…! It's just…too funny!" I said, trying to stop my laughter. "Heheh…nurse Jetfire…!"_

_Jetfire sighed in defeat._

_**{Why do I get the feeling that you're going to give me trouble?}**_

"_Since when have I ever given you trouble?" I gave him a surprised look. "Even if I did, it wouldn't have been deliberate." _

_**{Hey! Aren't you going to include us in your conversation?"**_

_Jetfire and I looked up and I was surprised when I saw both Astera and Silverbolt standing a ways away from us. I looked at Jetfire's face and saw that his gold optics were wide as he stared at his parents, but mostly at Silverbolt._

_**{Jetfire. It's so good to see you again.} **Astera said. She turned to me, giving me a smile. **{You too, Valerie.}**_

_Jetfire quickly glanced at Astera before returning to Silverbolt. Silverbolt just stared back at him and seemed to treat the exchange as if it were some staring contesting. He tried to approach slowly, but Jetfire only started to back away slowly in response, seeming to be wary._

_**{C'mon, Jetfire! Don't look at me like I'm freaking Protoform X.} **Silverbolt said jokingly._

_**{Who are you?}** Jetfire asked hesitatingly._

_**{I'm glad you asked! I just so happen to be your father! The last time I saw you was 220,000 years ago when you were still THIS tall!} **Silverbolt held his hand flat (with the palm down) and had to lean forward slightly as he placed in at the same height as his knee was, emphasizing his point of how tall Jetfire had been when he was only…50,000 years old if I remembered correctly._

_Jetfire's optics widened in surprise as he just stared at Silverbolt. I couldn't blame him since this _was _his first time seeing his father in so long._

_**{Wha…? You're…my father?} **He was shocked, no doubt about it. **{Name please…?}**_

_**{Name? What kind of son asks for their father's name?} **Silverbolt chuckled for a bit, but then he realized that Jetfire's expression hadn't changed at all. **{Oh… Apparently mine…} **He sighed. **{If you were wondering what my name is, or was if you want to be technical, it's Silverbolt.}**_

_If it had been possible for Jetfire's optics to get any wider than they were, then they did just now._

_**{Wait! Silverbolt? As in THE Silverbolt, leader of the Aerialbots?}**_

_**{Yep! …Wait. Since **_**when **_**did I get famous?} **__Silverbolt turned to Astera, who suddenly looked sheepish. __**{Astera… What exactly has happened since I was offlined?}**_

_**{Uh, well… Since you were offlined the Autobots decided to honor you as a hero of sorts. I-I had nothing at all to do with it.}**_

_**{Great…} **Silverbolt sighed. **{Well, Jetfire. It turns out I have quite the legacy, considering that my own son is Vice Commander of the Autobots.}**_

_**{I-I…never thought my own father, that you were be the leader of the Aerialbots.} **Jetfire finally said, seeming to accept what he was being told._

_**{It would seem that leadership runs in the family. I gotta admit that I'm proud of you, myself!} **Silverbolt turn to face me and he became somber so quickly that it surprised me. **{Now, to address an issue that started yesterday. Don't think I've forgotten about you, daughter-in-law.} **I felt my face heat up from the title, but then I felt guilt as I realized what he was talking about and averted my gaze. **{Do you still hate him?}**_

"_No…" I told him, completely honest. I felt tears start to form in my eyes as I felt regret from what I've said, what I've done, and how I behaved, for both yesterday and today. "I don't hate him…" My throat tightened slightly as a tear suddenly fell from my eye. "I don't hate him…"_

**I hate you. I fucking _hate _you!**

**I hope you burn in the Cybertronian equivalent of hell!**

_I ended up crying as I remembered those words I had said to Jetfire today. Those cruel words kept repeating in my head like a broken record. How could I have said that to him, even if he had been stubborn at the time? He never deserved to have those said to him, and yet I had been too bitter and indifferent to care at the time. Now they came back to haunt me. I clutched a hand over my heart and from the way it felt I couldn't help but wonder if it was actually being stabbed._

"_I'm sorry…" I said quietly. "I'm so sorry…"_

_I felt a hand being placed on my shoulder before I was pulled close to the solid form standing behind me. Even if I couldn't feel his emotions in this place (which we had discovered at one point during our time in this place) I knew he was trying to comfort me. I knew he would've sent me that emotion through our connection if he could, along with understanding and sympathy. You know the saying 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me'? It wasn't entirely true. Words could hurt a person as much as stick and stones could, but instead of being a physical pain it was an emotional pain._

_**{Valerie…} **I heard Jetfire say quietly in a comforting voice. **{It's okay now… I know you're sorry…}**_

_I heard Silverbolt sigh quietly._

_**{Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring that up.} **Silverbolt admitted, sound sorry for bringing up the topic. **{But at least I know you never meant what you said.}**_

_I looked up at Silverbolt through watery eyes as I felt slight confusion._

_**{Dad. I know she never meant what she said, yet I know I deserved them to some extent. I was too stubborn to listen to her or anyone else, and I almost paid the ultimate price for it today. I could've lost her today and I almost did.} **Jetfire sounded sad and I had a feeling that he was reminded of what happened earlier today. **{I'm…sorry as well. I wouldn't blame you if you were disappointed in me.}**_

_**{Jetfire…} **Astera said, sounding like she wanted to say more._

_It was quiet for a bit and before I knew it both Astera and Silverbolt stood in front of us. What surprised me even more was the kind smile on both of their faces. And nothing prepared me to be pulled into a hug by Jetfire's father._

_**{C'mon, kiddo! Cheer up!} **Silverbolt said, suddenly sounding happy which confused me greatly. **{You passed in my book!}**_

"…_Passed?" I asked._

_**{I needed to see if you really meant what you said today and the good thing is that you never meant it now. Plus, that incident today brought you two even more closer to each other than you were before.} **I passed? The question he had asked me a few minutes ago was a test? **{Welcome to the family!}**_

_Family? Did that mean I was accepted, that I was now a part of their family? As both their daughter-in-law and Jetfire's sparkmate? I felt so many emotions: surprise, relieved, and happy._

"_Thank you…" I felt the small smile form on my face._

_**{No need to thank us!} **Silverbolt lean in closer to my hear before whispering. **{Just be sure to take care of Jetfire. He can be a handful sometimes and a bit of a troublemaker.}**_

_**{Hey! I heard that, Dad!} **Jetfire protested_

_I couldn't help but laugh, and it actually felt good to do so now after what happened a few minute ago._

"_Don't worry, Silverbolt. I'll be sure to do my best."_

**_{No, no, no! _You're_ the one that needs to be taken care of, gimpy, not me!} _**

_**{It could go both ways, my little Jetfire.} **Astera pulled away so that she could hug me as well. **{Good luck to both of you. You have our blessings.}**_

"_Wait!" I said. "You make it sound like we're going to get married tomorrow!"_

_**{You never know, Valerie. For us Cybertronians time works differently than it does for you humans. It could be 10, or even 20 years for you before you before you get bonded to each other, but it'd be nothing more than a few months for Jetfire.}**_

_I couldn't help but giggle quietly, feeling stupid for forgetting that._

"_Oh yeah. That's right." I smiled. "Thank you so very much. I'll…do my best."_

_**{We know you will.}**_

_With that both Astera and Silverbolt faded away. I couldn't help but smile. I was part of the family. Jetfire wrapped his arms around my waist before sitting down on the ground with me in his lap. He held me close to his chest and placed his head on top on mine._

_**{Looks like everything's been settled.} **Jetfire said before chuckling. **{And it looks like you're officially a part of the family, Skydancer.}**_

"_You Cybertronians have such strange customs." I told him._

**_{Now you know how _I _feel! You humans happen to have more customs than we do, and that's mainly from the fact that you're one species that has many cultures. Why can't you all be a little more simplistic?}_**

_I giggled._

"_I'm not the right person you should be asking. I'm just as confused as you are."_

_**{You're right.}** Jetfire sighed before tightening his hold on me. **{I…have something to tell you.}**_

"_What is it?" I felt curious as to what he wanted to tell me._

_**{How should I say this?} **Jetfire was quiet for a bit as he thought. **{About 14 years ago, I actually saw you in my dreams at one point. As a newborn sparkling to be exact.}**_

_I turned my head so that I could look at him, surprised by what he said. He must've known what my silent question was since he continued._

_**{You were…such a beautiful sparkling, with your wide blue eyes and the small amount of hair on your head. And you had this pale pink outfit on at the time. When the dream started I was in a dark void, just like the one we're sitting in now, but then it changed to a blue sky. That was when I saw you. You looked at me in curiosity since you didn't know who I was, yet that didn't stop you from wanting me to pick you up.}**_

_My eyes widened from what he told me. He had dreamed of me when I was just a newborn baby? I turned away from Jetfire, feeling my heart flutter as my face heated up slightly. I don't remember having a dream like that, but then again I was just a newborn baby at the time. Yet something about what he told me sounded familiar. I gasped quietly as I realized why. _

"_The sky…!" I said quietly. I turned to face Jetfire again. "That's the reason why I've been looking at the sky all these years!"_

_**{Maybe. You never know.}**_

"_I do know! I don't know how, but something tells me that's the reason why." I allowed myself to calm down. "You know how we're able to share our thoughts, right?"_

_**{Yeah.}**_

"_I was wondering if you would be able to show me the dream you had of me as a baby sometime when I'm awake. I feel like that would confirm something if you did."_

_**{I'll be more than happy to show you, sweetspark.}**_

_I smiled at him before leaning my head up to place a kiss on his gold face plate. Jetfire sighed in content, his gold optics dimming before lighting up again and gazed at me with love._

_**{You're not making this easy for me, you know?} **He told me, referring to the fact that he didn't allow me to see his real face unless I was blindfolded so he could kiss me._

"_I won't look." I said, closing my eyes. "Promise."_

_I heard Jetfire sigh before going quiet. After a few seconds I felt his metallic lips on mine as he kissed me. I was tempted to open my eyes to see his face, but I resisted since I had promised I wouldn't look. Jetfire parted my lips with his before his tongue entered my mouth and I shivered as he slowly stroked and caressed my tongue with his. Another temptation I felt was the urge to stroke the wings on his back. Again I had to resist since I didn't want to torture him. A thought entered my mind and I felt slightly disappointed as I realized that we wouldn't be able to do this as much in the real world since if we went too far I would just hurt myself from moving too much. After awhile our lips parted and I felt Jetfire's lips on my forehead as he placed a kiss there. He pulled his head away from me before I heard the familiar sound of his face mask coming out to cover his face._

_**{You can look now.} **He told me._

_I opened my eyes to see him looking at me and I smiled. I had a feeling he was smiling behind his face mask, but it also showed in his gold optics. He pulled me down so that I was laying on top of him as he laid down on his back. I placed my head over the Autobot symbol on his chest, closing my eyes and smiled as I felt the warm from his spark and the quiet humming it made as it pulsed subtly._

_**{We'll have all day to have moments like this tomorrow, along with all of this week and next week during the day and at night.} **Jetfire told me. **{And someday we'll be able to have them for the rest of our lives together. Just you and me, as sparkmates.}**_

_I sighed quietly in content._

"_Now you have me looking forward to the future."_

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I woke up feeling slightly dazed, but there were a few things I noticed. One, Jetfire wasn't around, two, it was morning, and three, I was painfully aware of the condition of my right side (no pun intended). I just laid there on my bed as I gave myself time to wake up. I breathed in through my nose, only to noticed a something weird. Was something…burning? I sniffed a few times again, my eyes widening as I realized something _was _burning! As if to confirm my suspicion the smoke detectors in the house went off, blaring their shrilly alarms.

Ignoring the pain in my side I got out of bed before running (or limping) out of my room, being careful as I made my way down the steps. The smell had gotten stronger once I made it downstairs, along with the sounds of hurried footsteps coming from the kitchen. I could feel panic coming from Jetfire and upon entering the kitchen I saw why. I stared with wide eyes as I found Jetfire's holoform scrambling around as he tried to put out a pan that had caught on fire.

"Jetfire, what are you doing?" I cried, causing him to look at me with wide eyes.

Instinct took over, my pain seeming to become nonexistent as I grabbed ahold of Jetfire's wrists and quickly (and carefully) guided him over to the sink. I turned on the facet before shoving the pan he held under the cold water, causing steam to rise from making contact with the hot metal as the flames were doused. I sighed now that nothing was burning and eventually the smoke detectors stopped going off.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Jetfire nodded before averting his gaze.

"Sorry." He said awkwardly. "I was…uh…trying to make you something to eat…"

I gazed at Jetfire for a bit before I noticed a red mark on his left hand and I became worried and concerned when I realized what it was.

"You burnt yourself!"

"It not that bad!" He tried to reassure me.

"You're lying. This isn't something you can act tough about or ignore, and I know that it hurts." I held my hand out to him. "Give me your hand. I want to help you."

Jetfire just stared at my hand before hesitantly placing his hand in mine. I gently grabbed it, using my other hand to turn down the flow of the running water so that it came out slower before placing his hand under the cold water. Jetfire hissed quietly and winced slightly as the water poured onto his burn and I knew he could feel it stinging.

"It's okay, Jetfire." I told him, trying to talk to him in a soothing voice. "It may hurt now, but the water will make it feel better." I looked back at his hand still under the running water, seeing the redness from the burn. "This…isn't going to affect your real form, is it?"

"No. But I'm not going to forget the pain anytime soon." He told me.

I couldn't help the small smile that appeared on my face.

"This is why you don't mess with fire unless you know what you're doing."

"But I did! I was trying to make you something to eat since you didn't have anything yesterday!"

"I know, and I'm grateful that you tried. But there's an easier solution that doesn't involve burning yourself."

"There is?" He asked, sounding curious.

"Yep. It's called cereal."

"Cereal?"

I nodded.

"Let me do something about your hand before I show you."

I left Jetfire's side and went over to a cabinet to get out a huge bowl big enough for the purpose I planned on using it for. I placed it on the counter before taking the ice cube tray out of the freezer and popping a few cubes into the bowl. After doing that I brought the bowl over to the sink (moving Jetfire to the side a bit) so I could fill the bowl up with water, watching the cubes as they started to float on the water's surface. When I was satisfied with the amount I had I took the bowl over to the counter and placed it in the spot in front of one of the bar stools (there were three in total) there. I went back over to the sink and turned off the facet before guiding Jetfire to the seat in front of the bowl I just placed there.

"Just sit there and stick your hand into the bowl."

I watched as Jetfire gazed at the bowl of water with the ice floating around in it. After awhile he stuck his left hand into the water and I saw him flinch.

"It's cold." He said.

"It's supposed to be cold."

"But why?"

"Because whenever someone burns themselves, like you did, they're supposed to stick their hand under cold water like I had you do just awhile ago. It's supposed to help decrease the pain you feel so that it gets better."

Jetfire sighed.

"First day on the job and I'm not doing so well."

"You're doing fine. Everyone learns from their mistakes." I placed a kiss on his cheek before heading over to the fridge and pulled out a jug of milk. "First thing about making cereal is that you need milk. Then you just need the bow with the cereal that you want to eat," As this, I pulled out a box of Coco Puffs. "and a bowl to put it in. Oh, and we can't forget the spoon!" I got out a regular bowl and spoon. " You fill half of the bowl with cereal before adding the milk." I showed him how to do it before sticking the spoon in the bowl. "And that's how you make cereal."

Jetfire stared at the bowl of cereal before lifting his gaze to look at me, then back at the bowl.

"That's it?" He asked, completely surprised.

"Yeah. It's not that hard and it's pain free."

"Well, don't I feel like a slaghead." He gave me a sheepish look as he rubbed the back of his head with his good hand.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You didn't know." I placed the milk and cereal box away before picking up the bowl and heading over to sit down next to Jetfire on his right. "What were you trying to make anyways?"

"I was…trying to make eggs. Of course you know how that turned out."

I ate a few spoonfuls of cereal.

"Were you able to sleep well last night?" I asked.

Jetfire chuckled.

"Skydancer, I believe we _both _know the answer to that question. How's your side?"

I suddenly became aware of my fractured rib.

"Still hurts, but I'll live."

I took a deep breath, only to start coughing and feel more pain from my chest. Not only did it hurt to breath deeply, but it hurt to cough as well.

"It's okay, Skydancer. Just keep coughing and breathing normally."

"But…" I coughed. "…it hurts…"

"I know it does, but it'll only get worse if you don't."

I continued coughing, feeling like I had a cold from the way it sounded. Jetfire continued encouraging me until I managed to stop coughing. I eventually finished my cereal and drank the milk out of the bowl and I was about to get up to take the bowl to the sink, but Jetfire stopped me.

"Let me take it. I'm your caregiver, remember?"

"Whatever you say, nurse." I said when he placed the bowl in the sink.

Jetfire whipped around to face me, his gold eyes narrowing as he frowned.

"CARE…GIVER." He said, emphasizing each word with a warning tone.

I couldn't help but grin as I tried so hard not to laugh. I knew that if I did I would end up hurting myself again.

"How's your hand feeling, Jetfire?" I asked.

"Slightly better. Doesn't sting or feel like it's still on fire anymore, at least."

Jetfire came over to where I was before carefully picking me up and carrying me bridal style into the living room. He went over to the couch and sat down on it with his legs laying across the length while he sat up slightly. He had carefully situated me so that my back was leaning against his chest while my legs were laying in between his. My head rested against his shoulder and Jetfire took that chance to placed a chaste kiss on my cheek, causing my face to heat up.

"Comfortable?" He asked.

"Yeah." I was slightly confused. "Why?"

He chuckled quietly.

"I thought I could share something with you."

I was about to ask what he meant but then I felt his presence in my mind, followed by something appearing in my mind.

_I saw Jetfire standing in the dark void we've be in together, but the thing was that he was alone, and I could practically _feel _the loneliness that he probably felt. The loneliness I felt was the kind that one got from being alone for years upon years of time. _

_Suddenly everything changed around his and the dark void was replaced with a clear blue sky with white clouds scattered around. I watched as his gold optics widened, as if realizing what the change of surroundings meant and excitement set in before he had to use his arms to shield his optics from the bright flash of light that appeared. I could barely see a feminine form carrying something small in their arms before they kneeled down and placed it on the ground before the light and form disappeared. Jetfire lowered his arms and his optics widened in surprise when he spotted the small baby that wore a pale pink baby outfit, with barely any hair on their head and wide blue eyes. My eyes widened in surprise when I realized that the baby was me since I had seen my baby pictures that my parents had taken years ago!_

_Jetfire had gone over to the baby me to get a closer look and I watched as the baby's wide blue eyes looked up at him in curiosity. I suddenly felt Jetfire's happiness and glowing neon blue tears welled up in his optics as he seemed to recognize the baby._

"_Skydancer…" I heard his voice say quietly. I was surprised when I heard him call baby me by the same nickname he had given me. I had a feeling that the Jetfire I saw had probably been speaking Cybertronian, but the one I was with had managed to make it so that I understood what was being said. A single neon blue tear fell from his optics and slid down his gold face mask from the happiness he felt, the complete joy he was feeling. "My beautiful Skydancer…"_

_The baby me was looking up at him just like any newborn baby would when they met someone new. Jetfire was so happy that he didn't seem to care about anything else now that he had encountered the baby. He even felt hopeful as if he was one step closer to a long term goal or something. I watched as the baby me held her arms up to him as she clenched and unclenched two tiny hands. Jetfire knelt down slowly and picked baby me up and held her close to him with as much care as a mother would while holding their own baby. He stared into her blue eyes with his gold optics before baby me placed her tiny hand on his face mask._

_I felt anxious as I watched Jetfire's gold face mask started to retract itself and I thought I was finally going to be able to see what his face looked like, but his face ended out being too blurred and distorted for me to make out any features and I felt disappointed. Even in this vision he still wouldn't let me see his face. I felt Jetfire's surprise when baby me touched his face and I felt my heart swell up in joy, happiness, and love and I realized that this must've been exactly how his spark must've felt at that time._

"_I know for a fact that you'll grow up to be a beautiful femme, Skydancer. And someday we'll finally be able to meet each other and become sparkmates." Jetfire said quietly to baby me. "You probably won't remember this wonderful dream when you're older, but that won't stop you from knowing that I love you." _

_I felt my heart flutter in warm love for him and I held a hand over my heart as tears started falling from my eyes from how happy I was. Jetfire had known about me before he even met me, before we had even became friends and lovers. He loved me before he even knew me. He had held me as a baby and knew that I wasn't going to remember the dream we both shared at that time. Was this…where it all started? Where my fascination with the sky had started?_

_Jetfire sighed in content before I heard him sing the Cybertronian Lullaby, but this time it was being sung in what I assumed was Cybertronian. Now that I heard him singing it in Cybertronian I noticed how familiar it sounded to my eyes._

I found myself opening my eyes and realized that I was back in the living room laying against Jetfire as he held me on the couch we were on. I noticed that I had been crying, that I still was as tears silently fell from my eyes. Even now I could feel Jetfire's love for me as he held me close and I smiled.

"Thank you." I told him, trying to show him how much I loved him by sending my emotions to him. "Thank you, Jetfire." I closed my eyes. "It was…such a wonderful dream."

Jetfire leaned forward enough so that his face was close to mine. I turned my head slightly to face him before he captured my lips with his. Jetfire was careful as he kissed me, making sure not to get carried away in case he accidentally ended up hurting me. I felt him express how much he loved me by sending his emotions to me like I had done just awhile ago and I felt oh so happy. It was almost like I was in heaven or a paradise created specifically for both Jetfire and I.

'_I love you…_' I told him.

Jetfire pulled away before I felt his lips brush up against my ear.

"I know." He told me quietly. "I love you as well, my beautiful Skydancer."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

A week had passed since I had fractured my rib and Jetfire had been by my side the whole time while taking care of me. I found it funny that ever since I showed him how to make cereal he had been giving it to me to eat, but after a few days I started getting tired of eating the same thing so I had to teach him how to make a simple ham and cheese sandwich. It was worth it in the end since I got to eat something different and that Jetfire was happy to learn how to cook (or prepare food) without having to worry about burning down the house in the process. By now I had gotten well enough to walk on my own with only a bit of soreness, and the best part was that I could leave the house to hang out with my friends at the base since this whole week was a school break for all of us. That also meant that Jetfire had to return to the base to do his duties as Vice Commander, but…

"What?" I exclaimed, staring at the dashboard inside Jetfire's shuttle form with wide eyes. In case you were wondering why I was inside Jetfire (okay, that just sounded wrong. And did he just chuckle at me?) it was because he was flying to the base. I was sitting in a seat with the safety harness strapped across my chest to keep me in place. "You're going to try and take care of me _while _you're working?"

"I'm not going to _try_, I'm going to _do_!" Jetfire told me. "Your wellbeing is just as important as my duties."

"But you're just adding more to your workload than you should! You'll end up working yourself to death!"

"Don't worry! It'd be impossible to work myself to the point of off lining. Besides, whatcha gonna do about it?"

"I'll tell Optimus about it and have him make you see reason."

Jetfire busted out laughing and his shuttle form shook slightly from the action.

"So you're gonna be a snitch and tattle-tell on me?" It was more of a statement than a question and I had the feeling that if he could he'd be smirking. "Nice try, kiddo, but that's not gonna work! It just so happens that I called ahead of time to cancel your appointment with him!"

"You knew I would try to do that, didn't you?" I asked.

"Yep! Like I told you awhile back, you've become predictable. Now I'll ask again: whatcha gonna do about it? You have some plan you're gonna use to stop me?"

I stared at the dashboard and narrowed my eyes. I could feel his smugness through the connection.

"I didn't think so!" He stated, knowing that he won.

"Oooh, you're good." I said, lowering my voice. "You're reeeaaal good."

Jetfire chuckled.

"Why else do you think I'm considered a strategist for the Autobots?"

Eventually we arrived at the base, but none of use were expecting the welcoming committee we got.

"Well, long time no see, I guess." Jetfire said.

"Jetfire!" Hot Shot suddenly went up to Jetfire and hugged him. "I missed you!"

Jetfire was quiet as he stared down at Hot Shot, unsure what to make of the situation he was in.

"Okay, what is it?" He asked, seeming suspicious of the yellow mech.

"Oh, nothing much. I thought you could referee a match between me and Sideswipe."

"That's it? And you couldn't ask anyone else?"

"You haven't been around for a week so we wanted you to see how much we've improved."

"Alright, fine." Jetfire turned to look down at me when Hot Shot released him. "Hopefully you'll be fine without me for awhile."

"I will." I nodded.

With that Jetfire left with Hot Shot and Sideswipe as they made their way to the training room. I was soon approached by Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred.

"How are you doing, Valerie?" Alexis asked.

"I'm doing fine." I told her.

"You look a little better than you did the last time we saw you." Rad pointed out.

"Wanna help us out with our little project we're working on?"

"Project?" Now I was confused.

"Yeah!" Carlos replied before whispering. "We're making a surprise for our guest."

It took me awhile to realize they were referring to Starscream. I smiled, knowing I'd be able to do something.

"I'd be glad to help."

"Great! We've been working on it for a few days now in the rec room!" Alexis told me.

I went with them as we made our way down the hallway to the rec room.

"So how did you explain your fractured rib to your parents?" Billy asked.

"I told them that Carlos got a kite and that we were playing until it got stuck in a tree, which I happened to fall out of while trying to retrieve it." I explained.

"But I don't have a kite." Carlos stated.

"I know, but you were the first person that popped into my head at the time and I went along with it. Plus they bought it."

"Well at least it's good to know you're getting better." Fred said.

We were just coming up to the door leading into the rec room when we the loud sound of footsteps heading our way, along with the sound of Hot Shot and Sideswipe yelling as we saw them running down the hallway as if their lives depended on it.

"Hey, bro? Are you still sure it was worth it?" Sideswipe yelled.

"Normally I would be, but I don't know anymore!" Hot Shot yelled back.

They ran right past us and I couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about or why they were running. The answer soon presented itself in the form of an angry Jetfire running after them looking as if a huge bucket of pink paint had been dumped on top of him and it was dripping down his body and creating a trail of pink paint.

"You better run, you punks! 'Cause when I get my servos on you, you're both gonna be wishing you hadn't done that when you're being sent to the med bay!" Jetfire yelled furiously.

My eyes widened as he ran past us, realizing he had blocked his thoughts and emotions from me _because _of this! Everything made sense! Hot Shot and Sideswipe had pulled at prank on Jetfire and the result was what I just witnessed.

"I can't believe it! Those two _actually _pulled it off?" Billy asked in surprise.

"Looks like it!" Rad replied.

Alexis sighed.

"We _warned _them not to do it." She said exasperated.

"You mean _you _warned them." Carlos pointed out. "C'mon!"

Everyone started running after them (while Fred complained about running on an empty stomach) and I followed after them, gritting my teeth from the pain in my side.

"Are we going to stop them?" I asked.

"You're kidding right? There's no way we'll be able to stop Jetfire for beating them into scrape, so we might as well watch!"

I was worried about what Jetfire would do to Hot Shot and Sideswipe. I could understand that he would be angry about having pink paint dumped on his and all (I would be too), but I had a feeling that he was going to do something he'd regret later. We eventually found them up head (thanks to the trail of pink paint Jetfire left behind) with Hot Shot and Sideswipe being cornered by Jetfire as he glared down at them with his gold optics. I knew Jetfire was trying to be intimidating, but the pink paint that was still dripping down his body wasn't helping, and despite this the two Autobots looked horrified as they stared up at the Vice Commander. We were all trying so hard not to laugh and I found myself taking a picture with my phone (which luckily Jetfire didn't notice).

"Look who's laughing now." Jetfire growled.

"H-hey, Jetfire! N-no need to be angry!" Hot Shot stuttered fearfully. "I-it was only a joke, a-and jokes are supposed to be funny and make you laugh! R-right, Sideswipe?"

"Y-yeah!" Sideswipe agreed.

Jetfire chuckled darkly and I felt a chill go down my spine from how intimidating it sounded.

"Does it look like I'm laughing?"

"Y-yeah!"

"U-uh, bro? I-I don't think he was laughing for the same reasons _we_ think."

"You're right. I'm not. And you're about to see why."

"WHOA! JETFIRE!" Hot Shot cried out. I winced when Jetfire hit him, leaving a nice dent on his head. "THE PAINT IS WASHABLE! IT'S NOT PERMINANT!"

"Maybe next time you'll think before pranking someone!"

'_Jetfire, don't!_' I told him.

Jetfire stopped after hitting Sideswipe in the head and dropped them before growling down at them.

"Be glad I didn't do anything worse!" He said. "As punishment you can clean up the paint that's all over the place!"

Jetfire turned around and started walking down the hallway we had come from. I knew he wanted me to follow him and I did. I was careful to avoid the paint on the ground that was still dripping off of him and he didn't hide his emotions of how angry he was about the prank. He stopped in front of the door leading into his quarters before I followed him inside. As soon as the doors slid shut behind us he sighed.

"I need to get this paint off." He said.

"Do you need me to help?" I suddenly found myself asking, and I felt my face heat up as he looked down at me.

"Don't know, but I might as well just in case."

Jetfire carefully picked me up and headed over to a door I hadn't noticed before. It turned out to be a room that had a floor drain in the corner while a showerhead came out of the wall as it hung high enough that it was above Jetfire's head. The door was slightly elevated about the ground by at least two feet so that water wouldn't leak out from underneath it when it was closed. At the far end of the room that was away from the showerhead and the door was an area that had what looked like a transformer sized towel. I realized that it was a shower room of sorts that could've been compared to the size of a normal bathroom for humans, except it being big enough for a transformer.

"This is a _really _big shower." I said.

"Yep! You humans may refer to it as a shower, but for us it's referred to as a refresher."

"A refresher?"

Jetfire nodded.

"You might want to take your shoes off." Jetfire told me. "And probably your clothes as well."

My face heated up as I started feeling nervous and anxious.

"W-what?"

"I don't mean it like that, Skydancer! I thought you'd probably want your clothes to stay dry! It's not like I'm gonna to do anything to you!"

My face got even more warmer than it already was and I averted my gaze. This was a shower room, Jetfire needed to get paint off him, and that meant that I'd end up getting soaked from the water. I hesitantly nodded my head before Jetfire headed over to the far end of the shower room where the towel was and lowered me to the smooth floor. I started by taking my shoes off, stuffing my socks into them, but then I started feeling embarrassed and self-conscious so I turned my back to face him as I took off my clothes, leaving myself in my bra and underwear in order to retain some form of modesty. I glanced at Jetfire and I felt his confusion as he gave me a look that expressed what he was feeling.

"You're going to leave those on?" He asked, unaware of what it was that he was saying.

My face heated up again. He honestly didn't know the purpose of undergarments and I wasn't sure what to tell him.

"I'll be fine." I told him. "I'll have dry clothes anyways."

I sensed that he felt awkward, but at the same time understood why I decided to keep my undergarments on. He probably looked into my mind or read my thoughts to find out my reasons for doing so. I then remembered the pink paint that he was still covered in and placed a hand over my mouth as I tried to stop myself from laughing.

"Skydancer!" Jetfire complained. "It's not funny!"

"I'm sorry!" I giggled. "Has anyone ever told you that pink seems to compliment your appearance?"

"You're joking, right?" Jetfire just stared at me with an incredulous look. "Only femmes are the ones to be painted pink, and that's only if they were born that way or chose to be painted that way willingly."

"Okay, fine! It's just different, that's all. I think red suits you better anyways."

Jetfire chuckled quietly.

"Red. Now _that's _more like it."

Jetfire turned to head over to the shower (I mean _refresher_) knob and I went a little closer to where he was before I yelped as I was suddenly drenched in cold water. On instinct I wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to keep myself warm as goosebumps formed on my exposed skin. Jetfire carefully scooped me up in one hand and held me close to his chest (which had pink paint being rinsed off from it) over his spark chamber to provide me with some warmth.

"Sorry about that. Takes the water awhile to heat up." He told me sheepishly.

"Y-you c-could've…w-warned m-me…" I said through chattering teeth.

"Don't worry. I'll keep you warm."

Jetfire went to take a seat on the floor with his back leaning against the wall as he did. He continued to keep me warm by holding me close to him and I was more than grateful to press myself against the warm metal. Over time the water started to warm up to a comfortable temperature and Jetfire moved so that he was sitting under the spray coming from the showerhead. I watched as the pink paint was easily washed off of his form so that he was back to his normal coloration, the water and paint mixing together before flowing down the drain. But even after all the paint was washed off of him Jetfire went back to leaning against the wall as he relaxed and from where I now stood on the floor I saw his gold optics dim.

I was about to head over to sit next to him when I felt a pair of warm arms circle around me from behind as a form was pressed against my back. I turn my head around as best as I could and I found Jetfire's holoform was out, but he only wore his gray wife beater and cargo pants, which happened to be getting soaked from the warm water that was falling on both of us. I felt my face heat up and turned my head away as I remembered what I was wearing (or lack of). I shivered as I felt his lips on my neck as he kiss and lightly bit at the skin. My heart seemed to beat faster as he continued and my stomach did flips when I felt his hand lightly brushing my stomach as he stroked it. I let out a quiet moan when he suddenly started licking the water that was running down my neck and it felt…nice.

"Jetfire…" I moaned quietly.

"That's right. That's my name, my beautiful Skydancer." He whispered into my ear.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts as I remembered where we were. I sighed quietly and I sensed that Jetfire was wondering what was wrong.

"We can't do this here." I told him. "Not yet."

Jetfire sighed, seeing my point.

"You're right. And we can't stay in here forever, anyways."

Jetfire turned my head to face him so that he could give me a kiss before his holoform disappeared. I turned back to face Jetfire's real form just in time to see his optics light up and he scooped me up into his hand before getting up to turn off the water. As soon as the water was off goosebumps formed on my skin as I was assaulted by the air that felt cold to my body. Jetfire went over to the area where the towel and my clothes were, which both happened to be dry due to their location in the room, and he placed me on the floor before picking up the towel to dry himself of. I turned my gaze away, feeling slightly awkward about watching him as my face heated up a bit. As soon as he was done he placed the towel on the floor before picking me up to place me on top of it, tucking me in as if it were a huge bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Trying to get you dry." He told me as if it were the most obvious thing. "I can't have you going around freezing yourself off."

I giggled quietly.

"It's a huge towel."

"Now that was random."

"So what? It's nice, warm, and soft. Like you."

Jetfire chuckled, his optics brightening slightly in amusement.

"You dork. Just focus on getting yourself dry, Skydancer."

It was like this for a few minutes with just me and Jetfire talking like this before I was dry enough to get my clothes back on. We (or more like he) had to leave so he could get back to work while taking care of me at the same time.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Alexis sat with Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred on the floor in the rec room as they worked on sewing the multiple cloth they had. The thing was that they weren't all the same color so the finished product was going to be a huge mismatch of colored cloth. The boys were doing an okay job, but they weren't doing so well when it came to not poking their fingers with the needles they were using. She had to admit it was funny to watch and even she couldn't help but giggle occasionally.

But she couldn't help but think back on what happened earlier. Jetfire had suddenly stopped hitting Hot Shot and Sideswipe he caught them and Valerie had followed him when he left, almost like a little puppy would follow their owner. It was just strange and they her friend spent almost all her time with him as well. Alexis hadn't missed how Jetfire's attitude had changed when Fred told everyone about Valerie's secret admirer a week ago and it was almost as if he were _jealous_. He even ignored and avoided her and her friend hadn't been the same when it happened. Something must've happened that day when Valerie fractured her rib. She just knew it. Why else would Jetfire have been worried about her when he brought her to the med bay? Was she right when she assumed that her friend had feelings for the Autobot Vice Commander?

Her thoughts then wandered to Starscream. She knew that he didn't seem to fit in with the other Autobots (and it didn't help that most of them still didn't trust him), but she believed that he was truly genuine when he said that he want to be a part of the Autobots. There was something about him that she liked. True he had a nice looking face (she'd even go as far as to say she found him attractive) and his personality was one that she found…appealing. Maybe it was the whole 'bad boy' personality that she liked. Alexis remembered when she had him watch Lion King 2 with her and Valerie and how curious he had been while watching the Disney movie. It reminded her of a child watching their first cartoon movie with their family, and it was almost as if Starscream was curious about human culture.

Alexis had brought another movie with her since she planned to watch it with her friend that night (good thing this whole week was a school break), but maybe she could include the Autobots and Starscream as well. She stopped sewing for a bit and stood up.

"Hey, Alexis. Where're you going?" Rad asked.

"I'm just going out for a bit so I can clear my thoughts, that's all." She told him, not wanting him to know her real reason.

"Okay. We'll be here when you get back."

Alexis left the rec room and started wandering down the hallway. For some reason something told her to go outside. She didn't know why, but she felt that she might find Starscream there. Imagine how surprised she was when she _did _find him outside sitting near the ledge. Alexis suddenly felt unsure if she wanted to talk to him or not now seeing as he appeared to be thinking about something. Maybe he didn't even know she was there or something, so he wouldn't notice if she left, right?

"I know you're there, so you might as well come out." Starscream suddenly said, causing Alexis to jump. He hadn't even turned around to look at her and this left her confused. It seemed safe enough so Alexis decided to approach him.

"How did you even know I was here?" Alexis asked.

"Call it…intuition." He replied after awhile, making it sound like it was the most obvious thing. "Was there something you needed?"

"Not really. I just wanted to talk, that's all." She smiled. "Mind if I sit next to you?"

"I don't care. Do whatever you wish."

Alexis took that as a 'yes' and carefully took a seat on a nearby rock that was next to Starscream. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, admiring his proud posture as he sat.

"I never exactly got the chance to ask you, but did you enjoy the movie we watched with Valerie last week?" Alexis asked.

"Strangely enough I did." He replied. "It was…interesting to see, yet it had a compelling storyline."

"It's good to see that you enjoyed it, Starscream." She turned to look up at him. "What would you say about seeing another movie tonight?"

Starscream turned his head to look down at her, his orange red optics showing curiosity.

"Another movie? Tonight? I guess that'll be fine. What's it called?"

"Sorry, but I can't tell you. It's a surprise." Alexis giggled when she saw the look on Starscream's face.

"Usually I'm not one for surprises, but if you insist."

"You wouldn't mind if I invited everyone to walk, right?"

Starscream looked away from her and gaze at the ground. She started to become worried that he wouldn't want that or he might change his mind about watching the movie tonight, but then he sighed.

"It wouldn't really matter if I said 'no.'"

"You don't have to think about it as a bad thing." She told him. "We could all watch it together in the rec room. You know, like a family movie night or sort."

"Family…"

Alexis noticed the change in Starscream's raspy voice and she wasn't sure why, but he sounded melancholy for some reason.

"What's wrong, Starscream?"

"I was…just reminded of my own family, that's all."

Oh. She wasn't sure how to approach this topic. She knew that talking about family was one of those personal aspects when it came to a person and she knew the transformers were no different. Maybe she should leave the topic alone. After all, this was Starscream.

"You're curious, aren't you?" He asked.

Alexis jumped slightly and realized Starscream was looking at her.

"I am, but if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

Starscream turned to look at the sky and seemed to be quietly thinking about something before he spoke.

"My creators were neutrals before this war even started between the Autobots and Decepticons. I happened to have two brothers named Thundercracker and Skywarp."

"What are your brothers like?"

"Thundercracker is…bearable, but words can't describe how much he hates me. I could care less if he hated me or not, but at least he's smart enough to listen to me most of the time. I'm surprised that he's even a Decepticon with how pathetic he is at times. Skywarp, on the other hand, makes Cyclonus look sane and acts completely immature with the way he chooses to use his abilities to warp around as a tool for his pranks." Starscream frowned slightly. "Personally, there are times when I can't stand them at all, even though we're fighting for the Decepticon cause, and there are times when we might as well try to offline each other. They're completely loyal to Megatron and they act like suck ups that it's despicable. But they're my wingmates while I'm the leader of our trine of seekers."

Despite the things Starscream said about his brothers, Thundercracker and Skywarp (and the way he talked about them sounded like they were his worst enemy), there seemed to be a sense a love behind his words, giving her the impression that his relationship between his brothers was the 'love-hate' kind.

"What do they look like?"

"They both look like me, except that Thundercracker is mainly blue, while Skywarp is mainly purple."

"Wait! You said that they were seekers right? Then does that mean that all seekers look like you, Starscream?"

Alexis was surprised when Starscream suddenly started laughing. Not one that was maniacal or intimidating, but a genuine laugh that expressed amusement.

"That's preposterous!" He told her. "If all seekers looked like me, then Megatron would've had a _fun _time trying to tell us all apart. But no, they don't. Thundercracker and Skywarp just happened to be created from the same spark."

"Created from the same spark? How is that possible?" Alexis asked.

"The process is similar to how you humans have twins or triplets. I guess you could consider us to be triplets."

Alexis smiled.

"I see. I guess that makes sense. Thanks for telling me about your family." Starscream didn't comment. Alexis turned to look at the sky as she felt a light breeze blowing before getting up. "It was nice talking to you. See you tonight for the movie."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Starscream silently watched as Alexis went back inside the base before turning back to look at the sky. He hadn't expected to tell her about Thundercracker and Skywarp, but he had felt the need to tell her. He frowned, recalling what he felt whenever Alexis was around him. He clenched his fists, feeling irritated. There was no way that she was his sparkmate! But no matter how hard he tried to deny it, to even forget about it, there was some way that it always came back and the feelings along with it. That was how he had known she was behind him when she came outside. Starscream was aware of how close Jetfire was to that human femme, Valerie, and he was honestly scared of having that happened to him. Not only because Alexis was human, but because she would be considered a weakness.

'_Curse my spark for having these annoying feelings._' He thought bitterly.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I watched as Jetfire worked, sitting at a desk in an office I didn't even know he had. He watched a monitor that showed footage from previous battles, occasionally pausing the footage to type something into what appeared to be a mini laptop that was transformer sized (which he told me was called a data pad) before resuming to watch the footage. Every once in awhile he would glance over at me in order to see how I was doing (and sometimes he would reach over to gently stroke a finger along the side of my head or down my back) before turning back to his work. I noticed that his gold optics would dim slightly before brightening (reminding me of how a person's eyes would droop as they tried to fight off sleep) and I could sense that he was feeling tired. I got concerned and stood up to go over to him.

"Jetfire. Maybe you should take a break from working." I suggested.

Jetfire looked down at me and sighed tiredly.

"I can't, Skydancer. I have to finish this data pad." He told me. "Plus, I'm almost done with it anyways."

I frowned.

"That's what you said an _hour _ago! You're working yourself too hard!"

"Don't worry about me! I'll be fine! If anyone should be worrying, it's me, and that's when it comes to _your _health."

I sighed in defeat, knowing that Jetfire would be too stubborn to listen to me. I had tried earlier today when he was multitasking between taking care of (or mothering) me and going around for any updates he had missed while he was away. I even insisted that he didn't worry about me and just focus on his duties, but of course he overruled me not only because of his rank, but because he was my sparkmate. I personally don't understand how Astera expected me to look after her son when he wouldn't listen to me. Would I have this problem when I was older and married (or bonded) to him?

"I give up. I'll just rest up for a bit."

"That's fine. You need to anyways."

'_You're one to talk…_' I thought.

I went back to the spot I had been sitting at before I got up, and I laid down on my left side before closing my eyes. I was probably asleep for only 30 minutes when something suddenly slammed on top of the desk and I was jolted away. I looked to where it came from, only to have my eyes widen when I found Jetfire laying the left side of his face down on the desk, his optics completely dimmed as I realized he fell into recharge. He…literally worked himself to the point of exhaustion. I got up before wandering over to his head and placed a hand on his face mask.

"You should've listened to me." I said quietly, my voice a whisper. "I knew something like this was going to happen." I gave a small smile before placing a kiss on his face mask. "Rest for now, Jetfire."

I looked around the desk to see if I could find a way down, and the funny thing was that I did (I found it strangely convenient how the Autobots had ladders made for humans to use). I carefully started climbing down the ladder, feeling only a slight bit of discomfort from doing so due to my fractured rib, but I eventually made it to the bottom. I glanced back at Jetfire and seeing that he was still in recharge I did my best to quietly leave the room. I really didn't know where I wanted to go since I didn't have anywhere in mind so I randomly chose to go in a direction and walk.

Hopefully I could remember how to get back to Jetfire's office…

I thought back on what happened when I had been with Jetfire in the shower. I thought of how he had activated his holoform without me knowing and how he held me. I could remember how my skin had slightly tingled from his touch. My face heated up and I shook my head. I shouldn't be thinking like this, at least not yet! Why was I even thinking like this in the first place?

I heard metal footsteps coming from around the corner and I was surprised to see Optimus appear as he turned the corner. He stopped as soon as he spotted me…and I felt like I was in trouble.

"It's good to see you, Valerie." Optimus said, his gold optics seeming to smile at me.

I felt myself slightly relax from his tone and quietly sighed.

"Same here." I replied.

"So what are you doing here? I thought you were with Jetfire."

"I-I was." I averted my gaze, feeling slightly nervous all of a sudden. "He fell asleep while working."

Optimus chuckled, something that surprised me.

"I'm not surprise. I told him to take it easy with his work, but he insisted on doing everything he missed and taking care of you at the same time."

"I told him to take a break, multiple times, to be exact, but he didn't listen." I sighed. "I don't understand why he's so stubborn at time, Optimus."

"Most of us wonder the same thing. Jetfire is the kind of person that doesn't give up so easily when presented with a challenge, and he'll keep trying until he succeeds." I was confused when Optimus knelt down before holding a hand out to me. "Let's go to my office so we can continue our conversation."

I was slightly hesitant at first, but then I nodded my head before climbing into his hand. It surprised me how gentle Optimus was as he carried me (he was just as gentle as Jetfire was when handling me), but I guess I should've expected that since he was the kind of person that wanted to protect all live. I couldn't help but wonder why Optimus wanted to continue our conversation in his office. What was is that he wanted to talk to me about that couldn't be said out in the hallway?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire woke up from recharge and felt slightly confused. When did he fall into recharge? He sat up in his chair and was about to resume his work, but then noticed something. His gold optics widened and they searched urgently over the surface of his desk.

"Valerie?" He called, becoming desperate since he didn't see her anywhere. He couldn't find her! In fact, he didn't see her anywhere in the room! His optics widened as he realized that she must've left the room! "Slaggit! How in the pit did she even manage to get down from the desk in the first place?"

Jetfire rushed out of the room, unaware of the fact that his desk had a ladder built into it.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Before I knew it Optimus had arrived to his office and as soon as he entered the room he closed the door behind him. He approached his desk and carefully placed me on top before taking a seat in the huge chair behind it.

"I know that you probably feel nervous right now, and I can understand why, but what I'm about to discuss with you will be confidential."

"Confidential? Just between the two of us?" I asked.

"Correct." Optimus nodded. "There are some things I'll ask that will seem personal and I don't mean any harm in asking you. Are you okay with this?"

"Yes."

"Good. How is your rib?"

"It's doing okay. It's still sore whenever I walk and such, but at least it's not as bad as it was when I got hurt."

"I see. About the incident that happened between you and Jetfire last week, can you tell me what happened from your point of view?"

I hung my head, wanting to avoid Optimus' kind gaze. I felt conflicted about telling him what happened or not.

"We…had an argument. And then we were attacked by Megatron."

Optimus was quiet and I could feel his gaze on me.

"I know there's more to what happened than you're telling me, Valerie. Why are you afraid to tell me?"

"It's just…It doesn't feel right to be talking about this. And I feel like I'd be betraying Jetfire's trust or something."

"You're unsure about telling me because you're worried about Jetfire?" It was more of a statement than a question. I nodded my head. Optimus sighed. "I can understand how you feel, but you don't need to be worried about telling me."

I looked up at Optimus in surprise and felt confused.

"What do you mean, Optimus?"

"I'm aware of what's going on between the two of you. Jetfire and I have been friends for a long time and he trusts me enough to confide in me about your relationship. I hope you can trust me enough to do the same."

"Then you know about us being sparkmates?"

"I do."

I felt a little better. If Jetfire trusted Optimus enough to tell him about us, then I should trust him as well.

"We had an argument, but it wasn't pleasant at all. I felt like I was a completely different person that day, someone I never wanted to be, yet I ended up becoming that person. I was so angry at him and the face that he accused me of something I didn't do and he said some nasty thing to me." I felt my throat tighten slightly as tears formed in my eyes and I clenched a hand over my heart. "I told him that I hated him, I yelled at him, and to make matters worse I brought his mother into our argument despite the fact I knew how personal it was. I knew it made him angry, but I didn't even care that he pulled his blaster on me and threaten to kill me. I was prepared to die and everything, but I told him to looking into my mind to see if I ever betrayed him. Then Megatron attacked us, but I was in this vegetable-like state when he appeared. I didn't even feel any pain when he squeezed me, and I didn't even feel surprise when Jetfire suddenly started protecting me. I was aware of what was happening, but I couldn't do anything. When it was over I was still in that state. Jetfire told me he was sorry. He even cried and said he wanted me back."

By the time I finished I realized I was crying. I tried to stop myself and wipe away the tears, but more just seemed to replace them. No matter how many times Jetfire (or his parents) forgave me for what happened I still felt horrible about it. Even thinking about what happened made me feel sad.

"It's okay to cry, Valerie." Optimus said in a comforting voice. "He really does care for you, you know?" At this I calmed down and looked up at him through watery eyes. "After all the time I've known Jetfire, I've never seen him cry. He didn't even cry at his mother's funeral even though I knew he wanted to. But the fact that he cried for you shows just how much you mean to him, how important your life is to him. He once told me after Astera's funeral that if he ever found his sparkmate he'd do anything to keep her smiling. The strategies he had given me the day before that incident showed that he thought about you when he came up with them. That's how much he cares about you."

I had fresh tears form in my eyes from what Optimus told me and I couldn't stop them from falling as I felt my heart swell in happiness and love. I knew Jetfire cared about me and that I was important to him, but I never thought he would go as far as to come up with strategies with my wellbeing in mind. He was giving his best for my sake and now I realized why he had been working so hard on the strategies he was creating before he fell asleep earlier.

"I never knew." I said quietly. "I'm so happy knowing that I mean that much to him."

"And you should. To him, you're practically his universe, his everything."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire had searched frantically for Valerie, even going as far as to check inside everyone's quarters (resulting in a few protests from his fellow Autobots who were trying to have some down time), and he still couldn't find her! But then he realized something. He hadn't check Optimus' office! He wasn't sure if she'd be in there, but it was the only place he hadn't looked. So Jetfire ending up rushing to Optimus' office. He just hoped she was there!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I had managed to dry my tears after crying and I was about to tell Optimus something when the door leading out of his office suddenly hissed open, followed by Jetfire's frantic voice.

"Optimus! Have you seen…" I turned around to look at Jetfire as he trailed off and his gold optics widened in surprise when he spotted me. "…Valerie?"

"You're just in time, Jetfire. Valerie and I had just finished our discussion." Optimus said calmly.

"Discussion?" Jetfire asked.

"Yes. We talked about how she's been recovering under your care and it looks to me that you've been doing a good job."

"Oh. Thanks, sir."

"Earlier today Alexis as asked permission for everyone on base to watch a movie tonight." Optimus explained. "It would be a perfect opportunity for all of us to enjoy each other's company as we all relax."

"All of us watching a movie?"

"Correct. I suggest you take the rest of the day off and see the movie with everyone tonight."

At this Jetfire's optics widened.

"But Optimus! You know I have work I need to catch up on!"

"I'm well aware of that, but a little bird informed me that you've been working hard today. You're deserved it."

Jetfire glanced over at me in surprise, but it changed to gratitude when they softened.

"Thank you, Optimus."

Jetfire came over to Optimus' desk to scoop me up before leaving the office. I sighed quietly as I felt the love my sparkmate sent my way, and I replied by doing the same.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire carried me in his hand as he head to the rec room. Tonight we (as in the Autobots-and ex-Decepticon-and my friends) would all be watching a movie that Alexis had brought with her. For the longest time so far for today I've been wondering what it was since she was adamant about not telling anyone _until_ we all came to see it. We soon came up to the door leading into the rec room and when we entered I saw that everyone (except for Scavenger, Blurr, Hot Shot, and Sideswipe) was here. Jetfire lowered me to the floor so that I could join my friends while he talked with Red Alert (who came up to him first). I went up to Alexis who had just closed the DVD player after she placed a disc into the tray.

"So, Alexis." I started, causing her to look at me. "Are you going to tell us what movie we're all watching?"

Alexis grinned, knowing what I was trying to do.

"Nice try, Valerie, but I'm not saying anything until everyone's here." She told me. "The boys tried to do the same thing earlier."

"Hey, guys! We got the popcorn!" Billy announced.

I turned to see Billy and Fred coming out of the human kitchen (don't ask) with two _large_ bowls filled to the brim with popcorn. The smell of it made my mouth water.

"Yeah! And we made enough for everyone to eat!" Fred said excitedly.

"Uh, Fred? You do realize that none of the Autobots are able to eat popcorn, right?" Carlos asked.

At this Fred suddenly looked disappointed.

"Aww… And I even buttered it and everything."

"Oh well. I guess it's the thought that counts." Rad said.

"Aww, c'mon, Scavenger!"

We all turned to the now opened door to see Hot Shot and Sideswipe each had a hold on Scavenger's arms as they tried to pull him into the room while I could see Blurr trying to push the stubborn mech inside.

"No!" Scavenger told them irritably. He did _not _look happy at all.

"Don't be like that, Scavenger! We all know that you could use a little R&R!" Sideswipe added.

"And I said that I didn't want to!"

"Stop being stubborn, you old mech!" Blurr retorted, sounding like he was having a bit of trouble trying to push him inside. "If _I _have to watch it, then _you _have to as well!"

"So _that's _what took you four so long." Optimus said, sounding amused. "There's no need to be stubborn, Scavenger. I thought it would probably do us some good if we all had a chance to relax by watching the movie Alexis brought with her."

"But Optimus!" Scavenger protested.

"Do I need make it an order for you?"

Scavenger growled quietly, knowing that he wasn't going to win. He pushed Hot Shot and Sideswipe away from him.

"Fine." He said, making his way to one of the transformer sized chairs and sitting down. "I'll watch this movie with everyone."

Some of the Autobots chose to sit on the floor while the others occupied their own chairs. Carlos, Billy, and Fred sat on one couch with their own bowl of popcorn to share while I happened to be sitting on the end of another couch I shared with Alexis and Rad. Jetfire happened to be sitting near the armrest my right arm was resting on, knowing that he wanted to be close to me.

"So are you going to tell us what movie we're watching, Alexis?" Rad asked once we were all seated.

Alexis stood up from her spot between Rad and I and turned to look at everyone.

"Okay, everyone! The movie we are watching tonight is called A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation. It's a Chinese animated film that was created back in 1997 that's loosely based on an old Chinese literature called Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. But the one I have is a DVD with the English, Cantonese, and Mandarin audio." Alexis explained. "Of course we'll be watching it in English so let me start the movie and turn off the light so we can start it."

Alexis went up to the DVD player (grabbing the remote in the process) and pressed play before turning off the lights and rushing back to her spot between Rad and I. I could sense Jetfire's excitement as the movie showed a Chinese guy who was trying to get away from a aquatic looking serpent before encountering the form of a woman (that changed into another woman who he called Siu Lan) The guy woke up and accidentally hit his dog, Solid Gold, with his arm as he realized he had a nightmare. It turned out the guy, Ning, had been in love with Siu Lan (pronounced 'Su Lawn') and had tried to work hard to earn her favor, but she rejected him and went off to marry someone else (apparently Solid Gold had been Ning's gift to her and she…'returned' it to him). I could feel Jetfire's disappointment and disproval by this and I had no doubt that he was frowning behind his gold face mask.

_**{I just hope **_**that **_**doesn't happen to us.}**_ Jetfire said.

'_It won't._' I told him. '_I'd never do that to you. Not after everything you've done for me._'

I felt warm love and smiled a small smile as I returned the feeling.

Apparently these two monks made an appearance before Ning and Solid Gold and it turned out that they were there to exorcise the evil spirits in the area. The young monk started fighting the spirits and I wrinkled my nose. There was something about the young monk that I didn't like at all.

"Geez… The fighting is so cheesy." Hot Shot suddenly said.

"Quiet!" Billy hissed before chucking a handful of popcorn at the yellow mech. It was safe to say that Hot Shot got the message.

I couldn't help but giggle quietly before returning my attention to the movie. So the two monks were White Cloud (the old monk) and Ten Miles (the young monk I didn't like). After they left (because of their competition with another exorcist, Red Beard) Ning and Solid Gold continued on their journey until the came upon a town (which he thought was the one he was looking for to collect a debt, his job being a tax collector), and I heard a catchy song as Ning spotted a beautiful woman riding in a carriage as if she were a princess (that was my first impression). But it was the song she was singing that surprised me.

_**Your eyes cannot believe  
**__**This beauty that you see  
**__**The voices in the air  
**__**Sounds like an angel's cry**_

_**That take you far away  
**__**Into a world of dreams  
**__**Your heart set free  
**__**For all to see  
**__**Fly away with me**_

At this Ning tried to get her attention and tried asking for the woman's name. I suddenly saw a vision in my mind of…me singing the song? I felt my face heat up as I realized that Jetfire was imagining me singing the song the woman was singing.

'_Please stop that!_' I told him, my face getting warmer when I heard him chuckling in my mind.

_**{Oh, so you can tease me, but I can't tease you, eh?} **_Jetfire said. _**{Don't you think that's a little unfair?}**_

I couldn't think of anything to say so I went back to watching the movie.

_**They take you far away  
**__**Into a world of dreams  
**__**Your heart set free  
**__**For all to see  
**__**Come fly away with me **_

After the woman left Ning and Solid Gold (who had discovered that everyone were ghost and that he was in a ghost town) ended up in a restaurant that served…human! I felt slightly grossed out and stopped eating the popcorn I was sharing with Alexis and Rad. I felt Jetfire's concern for me, but I reassured him I was fine. The woman (who was a ghost) introduced herself to the guy as Siu Sin (pronounced as 'Su Seen'), but then the other ghosts at the restaurant heard Ning's heartbeat and tried to search for him. Siu Sin managed to get them out of there and they ended up talking on a bridge before Red Beard showed up. Ning and Siu Sin were able to escape and the ghost managed to convince him to go to the Ghost Festival (I really didn't want to explain the Madame Trunk bit, to be honest), which he somewhat reluctantly agreed to go to with her. Apparently Siu Sin had a boyfriend that was going to perform (Alexis leaned over to me, telling me that the ghost's boyfriend was called 'Black Mountain,' causing me to raise an eyebrow) so the ghost was very excited to see him. They ran into Red Beard (after much pleading from Ning, chose not to harm Siu Sin who was hiding inside a parasol to avoid the sunlight) and he gave them a ride before they were attacked by White Cloud and Ten Miles, the bearded man helping both human and ghost to escape the conflict. Ning and Siu Sin made it in time and she flew off as more catchy music started before a giant appeared and…

_**I stand alone  
**__**Alone in history  
**__**No one would dare  
**__**To fight or challenge me**_

_**I am the king of the world tonight  
**__**Beware  
**__**Beware  
**__**Beware**_

"What the frag?" Jetfire suddenly exclaimed, his gold optics wide in shock.

Alexis jumped when she heard Jetfire's voice and she had to pause the movie. Not only could I see, but I could feel him freaking out. I was feeling the same way he was since I actually _knew _what Jetfire sounded like when he sings, and to find out that a character sounded like yourself was just freaky. I even thought I was hearing him sing.

"No way!" Billy said.

"That green guy sounded just like Jetfire!" Sideswipe said.

"You're right. It does." Optimus agreed.

"But what I _don't _understand is _why _whoever voiced this green giant sounds like me!" Jetfire stated.

"What's wrong, Jetfire?" Hoist asked, suddenly grinning. "Are you jealous that there's another person that sounds like you?"

"What? You're kidding, right?"

"Not in the least bit. I know for a fact that's what you sound like when I've heard you singing."

"And the fact that they sound exactly like you is perfect for black mail." Hot Shot added.

"No! You're _not _getting away with pranking me again!" Jetfire glared. "You remember what happened the _last _time you decided to do so, right?"

'_Jetfire._' I warned.

Upon hearing my voice in his head Jetfire calmed down before turning to face the screen. I turned to Alexis as I've been wondering the same thing Jetfire was.

"Who exactly voices this green giant?" I asked.

"Uh, Scott McNeil, if I remember correctly." She told me.

"Scott McNeil?" Jetfire asked. "Who's that?"

"He's a Canadian voice actor that has done a lot of work in anime and such. He's even did the voice for the dog Solid Gold in this movie."

It seemed impossible for Jetfire to be anymore surprised from what he heard, but he was and I couldn't blame him. Even I was freaked out by this. Alexis decided to resume the movie and we continued to watch it.

_**I am the power and the ruler of all that us obey  
**__**Now and forever mine  
**__**You see before you the law of the universe  
**__**Only I am strong enough to rule**_

I couldn't help it. Scott McNeil sounded too much like Jetfire that it was just creepy. There were a few times that I had to remind myself that it was the actor singing and not my sparkmate.

'_It's going to be alright, Jetfire._' I told him.

_**All must bow down  
**__**Fall down upon your knees  
**__**Raise up your voice  
**__**To glory and praise me  
**__**I am the king of the world tonight**_

Suddenly the hair Siu Sin had grabbed broke and the green giant (Black Mountain) had gotten angry and was about to punish her when those two monks (of course) came out of nowhere deciding that they were going to exorcise the 'evil' spirits (although Black Mountain would probably count as an evil spirit). Black Mountain ended up losing more than just a few strands of hair to White Cloud when he set him on fire, but at least Ning and Siu Sin got away. Ning decided that he wanted to help Siu Sin and chose to give up with life so that she could take him to Madame Trunk, but then at the last minute when Madame Trunk was going to consume him (more like vacuum him through her nose that suddenly resembled an elephant's trunk) and saved him with the help of Siu Deep.

I couldn't help but be reminded of when Jetfire had protected me from Megatron a week ago, along with the first time he kissed me when I saw the two characters kiss each other in the movie. I felt the warm love again, followed by the sense of being hugged by him through the connection. I wish I could hug him physically, but I couldn't so I had to settle with doing so through the connection as well.

'_Maybe someday I'll be able to protect you as well._' I said.

_**{I just hope that day doesn't come anytime soon.}**_ Jetfire told me. _**{I don't want you getting injured for my sake, even if you love me enough to willingly do so just to protect me.}**_

I sighed mentally from what he said. He had a point. He was a giant alien robot made of metal while I was merely a human girl made of flesh, bone, and blood. He was stronger than I was, easily able to take more damage than I could, and unlike a human he could easily be repaired. I was weak, fragile, and could easily be broken like a tooth pick if a Decepticon ever got the chance to do so. I was more prone to death than he was. He would live longer than I would and I would eventually grow old and die of old age if I wasn't killed before then. Would Jetfire still love me even when I've become an old woman? Would he still say I was beautiful? Would he still call me his Skydancer?

_**{Don't think like that.} **_I felt the comfort that he was sending me. _**{Don't think of the future yet. Focus on the here and now, sweetspark.}**_

I wanted to cry, but I did my best to hold back the tears. I had to be strong. I had to. I didn't want to constantly cry over everything that made me sad or emotional like I was now. I had to be strong for everyone, for Jetfire.

Ning and Siu Sin ended up getting on the train that would take them to get reincarnated, but Black Mountain wouldn't have it and tried to stop the train. Red Beard came to their rescue, saying that he would only exorcise the evil spirits for now on, before taking on and successfully defeating Black Mountain. And guess what? White Cloud and Ten Miles appeared to exorcise the spirits and tried to stop the train, but Red Beard chose to defend the train. After awhile Ning and Siu Sin managed to make it to the Gates of Rebirth and had tried their best to avoid the Hammers of Void that would erase a spirit's memories completely before they were reincarnated. They did so, but just as Ning was about to be reborn he was pushed out of the gates when one of the monks (all three of them having been turned to babies) had bumped into him. As soon as Ning entered Bei Village he encountered White Cloud, Ten Miles, and Red Beard all as crying babies before coming up to a house that had a peach tree in front of it (which was where Siu Sin said she would be once she was reincarnated), only to find his previous girlfriend, Siu Lan with a baby. I laughed when he took off with Siu Lan's baby, only to find out that it was a boy after taking a beating from Siu Lan's husband. He ended up being surprised to find that Solid Gold had been reincarnated as a cat and happened to have his parasol with him. Ning realized that Siu Sin was hiding in the parasol and they lived happily ever after…or as happily as a human and ghost could.

And thus was my experience with the movie A Chinese Ghost Story…and the surprises that came with it that night. It had gotten late and a few of us (mainly me and my friends) felt ready to turn in for the night. I ended up going with Jetfire (he had cleverly used the excuse of "wanting to keep an optic on me" and the fact that I was still recovering) and we left for his quarters.

"I'm gonna have to research this Scott McNeil guy when I get the chance." Jetfire told me.

"You're still freaked out about the fact that he sounds like you?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Oh, believe me, Skydancer. _Freaked out _doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about it. It like discovering that the Decepticons managed to clone an evil version of me and I ended up coming face to face with it, but worse."

"Maybe you're over thinking it."

Jetfire chuckled as he entered his quarters.

"Since _when _have I _ever _over thought something?" He asked, pressing a switch on the wall near the door that was next to the one that turn on the lights (there was another switch that turned on the lights near his berth as well).

"Are you sure you want me to answer that question?" I asked, taking notice of the unknown switch he pressed as I realized nothing seemed to happen after he pressed it. "And what was that switch you just pressed?"

"Oh, that? That was merely a switch that makes this room soundproof. Comes in handy if you end up waking up from a nightmare screaming your head off and you don't want to wake anyone up in the middle of the night."

"I see. I wish we had something like that invented in our homes. Seems very convenient."

"You have _no _idea just how convenient they can be." Jetfire placed me on a nightstand near his berth and I realized that there was a twin sized bed on it. I gave him a questioning look, which he just seemed to be sheepish. "Er…It was Optimus' idea to get you kids beds in case you decided to stay the night. I agreed to it as well in case you ended up sleeping in my quarters. Wouldn't want you to get squished, right?"

"Are you…rambling?"

"…Okay, so I _am_ rambling! Happy?" This confused me. Usually Jetfire was so confident, but now he was acting like this was the first time I've been in his quarters. He suddenly turned around so his back was facing me. "Your bag is next to the bed so you can change."

I could sense that Jetfire was nervous, but I couldn't understand why? As tempting as it was I didn't want to pry since that would be invading his privacy. I rather have him be honest with me and tell me willingly. I felt my face heat up when I started carefully stripping my clothes off to get changed into my Pjs, and I knew Jetfire was tempted to turn around.

"Don't look." I told him.

"I know, but you do realize how hard this is for me, right?" He asked. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment before I sensed his realization. "I'm sorry. It's just that you're right there within arm's reach and I can just as easily claim you like that. It doesn't help that my spark keeps yearning for you to bond with me. I know I promised to wait until you're older, but…"

"Jetfire." I sighed thoughtfully. "I know that you're anxious about wanting to…bond with me. I know it's hard from you and I know you're trying to hold yourself back. I admire the amount of self-control that you've managed to maintain so far. But they say that waiting's the best part when it comes to something you really want, and in the end it's usually worth it." I finished getting into my Pjs. "You can turn around now."

Jetfire turned around and I could see the happiness and understanding in his optics as he knelt down so that his head was leveled with me on the night stand. I smiled, walking over to him and spreading my arms on his gold face mask in order to give him a hug as the side of my face was pressed against the warm metal. He chuckled, the vibration coming from his face mask tickling me as he did so.

"How about I give you a real hug so that this doesn't seem awkward between us?"

I nodded in agreement before pulling away. Jetfire pulled his head away as well behind his gold optics dimmed completely. I wasn't surprised when I felt the warm arms that wrapped around me before turning me to face his holoform. He held me close to his chest (while being careful of my right side), the heartfelt hug expressing all the love he had for me. I smiled before placing the side of my face against his chest and sighed. I was so happy being with Jetfire that I felt like I could just forget all my worries. Right now it was just the two of us. Two people that loved each other with all their heart (and spark). Two sparkmates that would someday be happily bonded to each other after all was said and done.

Jetfire managed to pick me up before carrying me over to the twin size bed and sat down on the side with me in his lap. I felt my face heat up slightly from the position I was in, but I didn't mind at all. I turned my head in time for him to claim my lips with his and I felt like I could've melted on the spot, unable to think straight from all the emotions I felt. The kiss was over before I knew it and I felt slightly disappointed. Jetfire merely smiled at me, knowing how I felt.

"C'mon. Let's get you to bed so that you can sleep." He said quietly. "And don't try to argue with me 'cause you know I'll win."

"I wasn't going to." I told him, feeling tired.

Jetfire pulled me up with him so that he could pull the sheets back from the bed before helping me get in (he was even nice enough to tuck me in). He knelt down beside the bed giving me a kind smile as his gold eyes gazed at me. I smiled, feeling my eyelids start to grow heavy with sleep. The process seemed to speed up when Jetfire started humming the Cybertronian Lullaby to me and I seemed to fall asleep instantly.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I suddenly woke up when I felt the pain in my right side, hissing as I slowly (and carefully) sat up. At first I started panicking since I didn't know where I was (not to mention it was dark in the room which made it hard to see anything except silhouettes and shapes), but I calmed down when I remembered that I was in Jetfire's quarters. I sighed quietly in relief and was about to go back to sleep when I suddenly heard movement, followed by the sound of moaning and groaning. My head shot in the direction it was coming from, only to have my eyes widen when I saw Jetfire's form (which was laying face down) was moving around on his berth, but it wasn't just any movement that involved tossing and turning in one's sleep. His hips were moving as if he were…grinding them into the surface of his berth! My face heated up and my eyes widened in horror, watching as his hands wandered downwards, his hips raised slightly before something huge came out. He grabbed hold of it and lowered himself back on the berth and I realized in my shock that he was masturbating.

"Valerie…" I heard him moan sensually as he continued humping his berth, the sound of fans going off. "Oh, Valerie…!"

My face got warmer as I continued watching him, listening to his moaning and groaning as he gradually built up speed. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't look away and my mind ended up yelling about me, asking me what I was doing. The room suddenly felt like it was too hot and I became aware of the wetness I felt between my legs. Jetfire's moaning and grunting started getting louder and I couldn't help the sudden curiosity I felt as I wondered what it was he was dreaming about that was making him act like he was. Was it possible for me to search his mind to see what he was dreaming?

I decided to give it a try and closed my eyes. Hopefully he wouldn't be aware of what I was doing. What I saw wasn't what I expect to see. It was like I was a spectator watching from the sidelines as I saw Jetfire (in his true form) leaning over me (at least the 'me' he was dreaming about, my face heating up as I saw that 'I' was naked) while kissing 'me' roughly and hungrily. I couldn't see his face since it was blurred and I felt disappointed. I could hear them both moaning from what they were doing as they were breathing heavily. My eyes widened in horror as I saw what Jetfire was about to do next and the next thing I know my eyes snap open as I pulled out of his mind.

My heart was beating fast, I felt like it was too hot in the room along with the wetness between my legs, and as I watched Jetfire continue to grind his hips into his berth I started to feel a strong sense of pleasure, lust, and affection. The emotions were so overwhelming that I wasn't sure if they were Jetfire's or mine. I suddenly found myself wanting him, to feel him touching me as he expressed-

My eyes widened when Jetfire suddenly stopped what he was doing and I quickly got down on my bed when his body turned to face me. I stayed like that for a few minutes before I deemed it safe to look, only to look away as I felt my face heating up. I suddenly felt awkward and embarrassed from seeing a shape between his legs that I _knew _wasn't usually there. My face got even more warmer as I realized that I had watched him do _that _to himself (while he was asleep) and that I had been aroused by it. I decided to get back to sleep. I just wish I could forget what I just witnessed…

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire suddenly found himself waking up, only to feel slightly disappointed that he had been dreaming. He cycled his vents before glancing over to where Valerie was on the nearby nightstand to find that she was sound asleep. He felt his mouth plates form into a small smile, but then he frowned when he became aware of the mass between his legs. Jetfire saw that his interface rod was exposed and his cooling vents went off when he realized that he had been masturbating in his recharge. He glanced back at Valerie, worried that she might've heard him. Maybe she didn't, hopefully. Jetfire carefully placed his interface rod back into its chamber before falling into recharge again.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Waking up the next morning was…interesting to say the least, especially when I found Jetfire's holoform sitting on the bed I was laying in as he gazed down at me. He gave me a warm smile when he saw that I was awake and brought his face close to mine so he could give me a chaste kiss. I returned it with one of my own, but as soon as he pulled away I was suddenly reminded of what I saw and my face heated up. I had to block my thoughts before Jetfire could hear them. I could tell it worked since I saw the confused look on his face.

"Valerie? What's wrong?" Jetfire asked.

"N-nothing. There's nothing wrong." I answered.

I saw the look on Jetfire's face and I knew that he didn't believe me. He sighed, sounding slightly disappointed by my response (or how I said it).

"Valerie. You shouldn't have to hide anything from me." Jetfire carefully pulled me into an upright position so he could hold me. I felt myself tense slightly since he knew I was hiding something. He must've realized this since he started combing his fingers through my hair and causing a shiver to go down my spine from the sensation. The feeling of someone playing with your hair or combing their fingers through it was way more noticeable than when you did it to yourself (which is less noticeable). He was trying to get me to relax and loosen up a bit. Too bad it was working. "We're sparkmates, remember? You can tell me anything, and I mean _anything_. I want you to be willing to tell me if anything's wrong instead of having me look inside your mind." Jetfire placed his hand under my chin and forced me to look up at his face, my gaze ended up being locked on his gold eyes. I knew I had been backed into a corner in the metaphorical sense. "You trust me, don't you?"

Trust. I felt my throat tighten slightly in nervousness. He just had to play the 'trust card'. He wanted me to trust him; I've known that since day one. I felt very hesitant about telling him what I saw. I wanted to look away from him, but I couldn't. Not because he held my face in place, but because that gold gaze of his had me trapped.

"I-I do trust you, but…" I trailed off, feeling somewhat anxious.

"But…?" He repeated, wanting to know the rest.

"L-Last night I-I saw you…" I felt my face heat up considerably while stuttering nervously. "…I-I saw _and _heard you… Y-you were…"

Jetfire's eyes widened and I saw his face turn red as he pulled his hand away from under my chin. He averted his gaze and I knew he was embarrassed and awkward. I even felt the same way at the moment.

"You _saw _me do _that _while I was in recharge?" Jetfire asked, completely shocked.

I looked away, nodding my head.

"I-I didn't mean to. I woke up last night since my right side starting hurting when I tried to lay on my side."

I felt him place his hands on my shoulders, causing me to look at him.

"There's more to it than what you're telling me." His eyes widened as if he realized something. "You didn't…see what I was-"

I nodded my head, confirming that I had seen the dream he had last night..

"I-I'm sorry." I said.

"No, don't apologize." He shook his head. "I should be the one apologizing right now because of last night. It's just so hard to contain myself sometimes. It's just like I told you last night. I really need to work better on my self-control."

I wrapped my arms around him and placed my head on his chest, shutting my eyes before I sighed.

"It'll take time, but I know you can do it. You always say victory is yours, so I know you'll be able to do it."

I could feel his happiness and gratitude as he returned my hug.

"You're right. I can do this."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
_  
(One week later…)_

"C'mon, men! Let's look _alive_! We gotta _war_ to win!" Jetfire ordered.

In case you were wondering what was going on, the Autobots were all working on their space ship. Well, it was more like Jetfire bossing the other Autobots around as they worked. And the best part about it? I had a bit of a front row seat as I watched from where I was standing on the platform near the railing.

"Aw, c'mon, Jetfire! We're working like _dogs _here!" Hot Shot complained as he worked next to Scavenger welding the metal plating together. Sideswipe walked past him as he carried a metal beam, or was it a pole? I really couldn't tell from where I was.

"Well, just keep workin'! Huh?" Jetfire looked up from where he stood and noticed that Starscream was standing on what was most likely the ship's hatch doing nothing. "Hey Starscream, what are you doing just _standing _around?"

"_Me_? _Help_? Ha! This is all a waste of _time_, Jetfire." Starscream said. "I suggest we launch an all-out attack against the Decepticons instead of this - _mindless _exercise."

"Hey, we're _not_ the _aggressors_ here!" At this time Sideswipe was watching from where he stood behind the Vice Commander, only to move in closer to get a better look. "Our job is to protect the Mini-Cons _first_!"

"Yeah, whatever!"

"Urgh! _You're_ a _fool_!" Not only could I tell that Jetfire was frustrated with Starscream, but I could also feel it through our connection as well.

"No, _you're_ _the fool_!" Starscream retorted before jumping down from the platform he was standing on. "At this rate, you'll _never_ defeat Megatron. And that's what _I'm_ here for. I joined the Autobots to bring Megatron down. The Mini-Cons mean _nothing _to me."

"_You_ haven't _changed_." Jetfire growled.

'_Jetfire, don't._' I told him.

"Hey, take it easy and just relax, Jetfire." Hot Shot interjected, getting in between the two as he tried to be the peacemaker (I sighed in relief and silently thanked him for that). He then turned to Starscream. "And that goes for you too, Starscream. Ya understand?"

"Hmmph!" Starscream started walking away and I could see that he was heading for the doorway to leave the room.

"Where you going?" Blurr asked.

"Yeah, get back here!" Hot Shot called out. But Starscream ignored them and continued walking off.

"Typical Decepticon." Blurr's voice was filled with disdain.

"I know." Sideswipe agreed.

"Hey!" Red Alert called out.

"Hmmm?" Both Blurr and Sideswipe turned to look at Red Alert.

"Enough chit-chat, _ladies_, we've got a _job _to do."

"Ehh, _sorry_, Red Alert." Jetfire said sheepishly, looking at the medic as he scratch the back of his head awkwardly. He then stopped. "But what _about _Starscream?"

"You mean Star-_traitor_, don't you?" Blurr stated.

"Get back to your stations, men." Red Alert told them.

Everyone headed back to what they were doing (besides Jetfire who as merely watching the progress). I couldn't help but feel sorry for Starscream and how the Autobots were treating him. He's been with us for a little over two weeks so far and they still didn't trust him, with the exception being Optimus. I believed he was right about giving the ex-Decepticon a chance, so why could the rest of the Autobots see that? Hot Shot sighed.

"Hot Shot!" Optimus called.

"Huh?" Hot Shot turned to see Optimus walking up to him.

"Progress report." Optimus stopped to stand in front of the yellow Autobot. "How's everything going down here?"

"Optimus." He turned to fully face his leader.

Optimus was quiet as he looked at Hot Shot.

"Is there... anything a matter, Hot Shot?"

Hot Shot looked at the ground, seeming to think of what to say before looking up.

"Well, there is something. It's just that the men and I don't think we can work with Starscream. And it's not like we haven't _tried_."

"Hmmmm…" Optimus seemed thoughtful as Hot Shot told him about Starscream.

"I guess the Decepticons are programmed a _lot_different than us."

"With that in mind, Hot Shot, don't you think that just might be the reason we're still battling 'em?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah, I guess so…" Hot Shot answered.

"I think the first step we should take with Starscream is to try to understand our differences. And then we should attempt to come to some mutual agreement on how best to work together."

"Erghhh... Hmm?" Hot Shot balled his hands into fists.

"_Well_...?" I was surprised at how calm and patient Optimus was as he waited for Hot Shot's reply. Hot Shot then nodded his head. "Good. Now let's get back to work."

"You heard Optimus! Get back to work!" Jetfire ordered from where he stood.

"Don't you mean having _us_ get back to work while _you _boss us around?" Scavenger asked pointedly, gazing at Jetfire.

"Yeah!" Sideswipe agreed, turning to Jetfire. "How come you're not helping us?"

I could tell that Jetfire was caught off guard from the unexpected questions as he looked at all everyone that was staring at him waiting for an answer. I felt like laughing, but I tried to resist the urge to do so and placed a hand over my mouth. I bet he never expected to be put on the spot.

"Uh… Well, because I'm _Vice Commander_." Jetfire answered.

"Oh, so you're pulling rank on all of us, huh?" Blurr said.

"Not just that! I, uh, also have to take care of Valerie."

"So now you're using _Valerie _as an excuse." Hoist smirked. "Still acting as _nurse_, I see?"

"_Noooo_. I'm still acting as _caregiver_ AND _Vice Commander_!"

I couldn't hold it in any longer and I suddenly busted out laughing at the bantered with each other, only to regret doing so when my side started hurting.

"Valerie!" Jetfire said worriedly and rushed over to where I was as he suddenly went into 'protective mode'. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Tch, what a _stupid _question! Of course you're hurt!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Jetfire! Calm down for a bit!" I told him. "Let up on the Mother Hen gig and relax."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm _not _afemme or a 'Mother Hen'! I'm a full grown mech!"

"Okay, _Father _Hen. Just calm down." I tried to give him a smile despite the soreness in my side. "I'll be fine. My side is only sore a little sore-" Jetfire cleared his throat as he gave me an expectant look. "Okay, so maybe it _does _hurt, but it isn't too bad compared to how it was two weeks ago! I'll be fine, honestly!"

Jetfire just looked at me, only to sigh as he shook his head.

"I swear I'm beginning to turn into my Mom with all the worrying I'm doing lately." Jetfire stated quietly. "I keep forgetting that you're not in as much pain as you were two weeks ago. I need to stop being so overprotective of you."

"Hey. I understand why you'd be like that and I can't blame you, either. I almost kind of find it flattering." I told him quietly. "But you need to lighten up a bit and not worry so much. I've recovered enough that I'm able to walk around now, but only with a bit of soreness is all." I gave him a knowing smile. "Besides, as Vice Commander you have your duties you need to attend to as well."

Jetfire sighed as he hung his head, knowing I was right.

"You're right. I have stuff I need to do as well." He then lifted his head up and gazed at me with his gold optics before lowering his voice. "But what's with you feeling sorry about Starscream all of a sudden?"

I lowered my gaze, knowing that sooner or later he was going to bring this up after having heard my thoughts as Starscream had left.

"I just…I don't think it's fair how you and the rest of the Autobots are treating him. He's been with you guys for a little over two weeks now and you _still _don't trust him."

"But that's because he's a _Decepticon_!"

"He _was _a Decepticon, but he joined the Autobots, remember? And Optimus chose to give him a chance since he believes that Starscream's sincere about his decision. Even Hot Shot has started to trust him, and I noticed that you've started trusting him a little since your mission on Mars."

"I understand where you're going with this, Skydancer, but you gotta remember that he was once part of the same faction that offlined my mother. Understand that this isn't as simple as you say it is. This is _different_."

I felt a bit of sadness and sympathy as Jetfire started getting a little bit emotional. He didn't bother hiding it from me. He _wanted _me to know just how personal his reasons were.

"Is it? Is it really as different as you say it is?" I asked, lifting my gaze to look at him. I watched as Jetfire averted his optics, not saying anything. "Think about it for a minute, Jetfire. What if _you _had been in _his _place as a Decepticon and you hadn't even _met_ me at all?"

Jetfire remained quiet and I could feel his emotions from his conflicting thoughts as he thought over my question. He suddenly sighed.

"I…" He started hesitantly. "I need to get back to work… I'm slacking off…"

With that Jetfire walked away from me and I couldn't help but feel somewhat sad as I watched his retreating form. He suddenly looked somewhat forlorn and the emotions I felt through our connection reflected just that, along with his confusion and uncertainty. I reached out to him, trying to provide comfort to him. He seemed to ignore me as he started working on the ship with the others, feeling a little hurt.

'_Jetfire. Don't push me away like this again._' I told him. I could feel the realization on his end. I knew that he remembered what happened two weeks ago. '_I'm wasn't trying to make you feel bad after what I told you, but maybe what you _are _feeling is exactly the same as what Starscream is feeling knowing that you all don't trust him._' I felt a hand over my heart. '_I just…want you to know that. You know I love you, Jetfire. Very dearly…my sparkmate._'

I could feel Jetfire's surprise from what I said before I could feel the happiness, love, and understanding that he sent my way. I smiled a small smile before closing my eyes, a single tear falling from my eyes at how much I knew he loved me.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"_Oh_, Thrust?" Megatron asked. "Exactly how do you propose we capture the Star Saber - and the Skyboom Shield?"

Thrust stood in front of Megatron's throne. He didn't miss the questioning look that the Decepticon leader was giving him and he smirked behind his face mask. Oh, if only he knew of _his _plan. If only he knew what awaited him down the road to his supposed 'victory'. For now, he would just have to play his part.

"I have developed _just _the plan for that _task_, Megatron." Thrust told him. "Leave _everything _to me, sire. Hahaha…"

"Hmmm…" Megatron didn't seem so sure of what he said, but he didn't care. All that Thrust cared about right now was his method of capturing the two weapons.

And he would do so without fail…

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

We were all excited as we waiting inside the dark room for Starscream. It was as soon as we heard the sound of approaching footsteps that we all went quiet. Before long the door slid open and we could all see the outlines of Starscream and the three Mini-Cons with him. As soon as Starscream turned on the lights we set off our party poppers (I don't really know what they're called).

"Huh?" Starscream was confused and turned to find us looking up at him.

"Surprise!" We all said at the same time, laughing as the confetti that came out of our poppers fell to the floor.

"What's going on?" Starscream asked. It was funny to see how confused he was.

"Thanks a lot for the present, Starscream!"

"I - _don't _think I follow."

So it turned out that he forgot.

"Thanks for the rock you brought back from Mars." Rad told him, reminded the ex-Decepticon of the mission he went on with Jetfire.

"Yeah, we never really had a chance to say _thanks_, big guy." Carlos said.

"And Alexis figured we should throw you, you know, a little appreciation party." Billy added.

"And we _even_ got a cake." Fred said excitedly.

I mentally face-palmed myself. Only Fred would say something like that.

"We made _this _for you." Alexis said, pulling out the shammy we had all worked on sewing together and held it out to Starscream.

"Huh?" Starscream looked at the shammy, crouching down to carefully pick up the multicolored cloth that Alexis held out to him with two fingers. He held it out in front of him, looking at it with a puzzled, yet curious look on his face. I saw the look on Alexis face as she watched him examine the shammy before he lowered it to look down at her. "So... _what _is it?"

A smile appeared on Alexis face when she saw that Starscream was curious about the shammy.

"A _hand-made_ polishing shammy." She said. "Use it to polish _anything_. Even Runway, for example."

"Huh?" Starscream looked at the Mini-Cons as they seemed to bleep in agreement. He turned back to look down at his shammy before looking at Alexis. "Yeah. Right."

"Even us _guys _helped sew it together." Carlos said.

"Yeah, and we even have the needle pricks to _prove _it." Rad agreed.

"So, when ya gonna _cut _the cake?" Fred asked.

Starscream looked back at the shammy. I could see the concerned look on Alexis face when she saw this.

"Oh, don't you like it?" Alexis asked.

"Uh, no, no... I wouldn't _say _that." Starscream told her. He looked at the shammy again, looking as if he were trying to think of the right words. "I mean, it's _very _- _colorful_. It's just that I haven't had anyone…_give_ me a _present _before."

"You can't be serious." Carlos exclaimed. "What about on your birthday? You never got _nothin'_?"

"That's horrible…" I said.

"Uhhh…" Starscream seemed confused and looked at his present. "So what does one - _do _in a situation like this?"

"Uh, heh, why don't you just _try _saying _thank you_?" Alexis suggested.

The ex-Decepticon looked at Alexis, showing slight confusion.

"Thank you. _Thank you_. Right?"

Alexis smiled.

"Yeaaah, heh, heh!"

"Ohh…" Starscream ended up lightly scratching his right cheek Scratches right cheek. I could tell that he wasn't used to this kind of treatment, so this was all new to him.

"So give us the _scoop_ on what it was _like _up on Mars, dude." Carlos said.

"Yeah, we wanna hear _all _about it." Rad added.

We all ran up to Starscream and looked up at him excitedly.

"Does anything grow up there that you can eat without croaking on the spot?" Fred asked.

Starscream knelt down so we wouldn't have to strain our necks too much and so that he could get a closer look.

"Is the gravity any different there than it is on Earth?" I asked.

"Hey, are there any _aliens_ living on the Red Planet?" Billy asked.

"Well, kids-" Starscream started.

"Hey, Starscream!" Upon hearing his voice my eyes widened when I spotted Jetfire standing in the hallway outside the room, his gold optics narrowed at Starscream. How come I didn't notice him come in or sensed his presence? Had he been blocking his end of the connection? Starscream turned to look at him in confusion. "How 'bout sharing some of the _work_ around here by going on surveillance duty up in the _control room_!"

Starscream growled quietly as Jetfire walked of. Even as he continued down the hallway I could feel his presence probing my mind in inquiry and mentally sighed as I knew why.

'_Don't worry, Jetfire. I'm coming. Just hold on for a bit._' I told him.

"I'll _never _get used to the Autobots' work ethic."

"Well, I guess you better get going." Carlos said.

"Don't worry. If I don't do it, someone _will _take care of it. No big deal." Starscream said dismissively.

"You can_not _be serious, Starscream." Alexis said.

"Huh?" Starscream was confused.

"I mean, sloughing off like that. It's _not_ the way Autobots work." She explained. "Don't you get it? They're a _team_, and without teamwork, nothing at _all_ would get done around here."

Starscream stood up and started walking away.

"Hey... Where do you think you're _going_?" Carlos asked.

The ex-Decepticon stopped in front of the doorway leading out of the room.

"To get a little _peace_ and _quiet_."

With that Starscream left the room, leaving some of us confused. I looked over at Alexis and I could see the disappointed look on her face as she stared at the ex-Decepticon's retreating form as the Mini-Cons followed him.

"Hmmm…"

"Aw, man, what's _his _problem?" Billy asked.

"Whoa-ho, he _sure _is self-centered." Rad said.

"Uh huh…" Alexis dully agreed.

I looked at Rad and Carlos, suddenly feeling confused as I saw the expression on their faces.

"Uh, Rad, Carlos?" I asked, causing the boys to look at me. And they were still smiling. "Why do you two look…_happy_?"

"Honestly? We have _no _clue." Carlos.

I sighed. If they didn't have a clue as to _why _they were smiling (especially after what Rad said with the _same _expression), then I don't know what to think. I decide that I would catch up with Jetfire, who I knew was waiting for me.

"Hey, Valerie. Aren't you gonna have any cake?" Fred asked.

"No thank you. I'm not exactly hungry right now." I told him before leaving the room.

I went down the hallway that I saw Jetfire go down and it wasn't long before I found him when I turned around a corner. He had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His gold optics landed on me before he lowered a hand down so I could climb on. I wrapped my arms around his thumb tightly as he started lifting his hand up and I shut my eyes tightly.

"You know I'm not going to drop you, Skydancer." Jetfire said calmly. "Don't you trust me?"

I loosened my hold around his thumb before slowly opening my eyes. I turned to look at him and could see the slight concern in his optics as he gazed at me.

"Sorry." I said. "It's not that I don't trust you or anything, Jetfire. I trust you with my own life if it ever came down to it." I looked over his hand to the ground below, seeing that it was a long way down. "I'm just afraid of falling, that's all."

Jetfire sighed.

"Remember when I took you flying that one time?" He asked, causing me to look at him. "Back then I told you that if you ever fell I'd always be there to catch you. You can count on me to be there and catch you. As I recall I managed to catch you when Megatron dropped you."

I realized what he was telling me and I smiled a small smile. Jetfire hadn't failed to catch me yet. I sighed quietly. I could feel Jetfire moving as he walked down the hallway to wherever he was heading to.

"Valerie. Do you know what your name means?" Jetfire suddenly asked.

"No, not really." I told him honestly. I was confused why he was asking me this.

"Your name has many meanings in just a few languages: 'strong' or 'to be strong' in Latin, 'brave' in French, and 'strong' or 'valiant' in English. But they all have something in common, and it's the fact that the root word for the name itself is 'valor'."

"'Valor'?"

"Yes, valor. There are a numerous definitions for the word itself that I can list. 'Boldness or determination in facing great danger, especially in battle; heroic courage; bravery'. 'Courage, especially that shown in war or battle'." Even if I couldn't see his face, I could see the smile being expressed through his optics. "I believe your parents may have been on to something when they were naming you."

I felt my face heat up slightly as I looked away.

"I'm not brave or strong, and I don't have courage, either." I said, feeling doubtful about what he was implying. "I don't have those qualities."

"Of course you do. I don't think they meant physical strength like when it comes to lifting a heavy object, but more of the strength that comes from a strong-willed person. The thing about courage is that it isn't the absence of fear, but the ability to overcome fear itself. I found a quote by someone called Edward Vernon Rickenbacker while searching the web once that said, 'courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.'"

"I understand what you're saying, but what does this have to do with me?"

"You may not have noticed, but I've watched how you've grown ever since you first learned about us and the war. I've seen you display the qualities you claim to lack time and time again. There was the time you went with Rad, Carlos, and Red Alert into the battlefield when they brought one of the Mini-Cons that created the Requiem Blaster. You could've chosen to stay at the base where it was safe, but you chose to go with them into a place that was dangerous. There was also the time you went with the others when you guys took he Mini-Cons with you to hide them. You were in direct danger when Thrust tried to retrieve them for you. You were also brave enough to go flying with me. Personally, I think you've had your fair share of courage and you'll continue to have them."

"I never thought I was brave."

I looked back at Jetfire and I could feel that he was proud of me, for the face that I could be brave.

"See? Even someone like you can have courage. Instead of thinking of your negative qualities, think of the positive ones you possess. I know you have enough of them to outweigh your flaws. So the next time you're feel scared or afraid, think of your name."

I realized what he was saying. I smiled before tightening my hold around his thumb slight in an attempt to hug him.

"Thank you."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As soon as Starscream arrived in the control room he lifted the multicolored shammy the kids made him. As he stared at it he noticed how each square of cloth was actually a separate piece of cloth, which each one stitched together in order to create the gift, his present.

His first present. Given to him by people who were kind to him. And they were organic, fleshy sparklings. The children were nice to him, Optimus believed that he deserved to have a second chance, and Hot Shot was starting to trust him (even going as far as to stand up for him earlier). But the others. They were wary of him. They didn't need to say anything or voice their thoughts; he knew they didn't trust him. Why else would they look at him like they did. He was trying, wasn't he? He frowned.

"All this _teamwork_ talk is starting to make me go _soft_." He said, a frown on his face. Suddenly a deep beeping sound went off, causing him to look up at the monitor in front of him. "Huh?" The Mini-Cons with him seemed to be confused as well as they bleeped. "What _is_ that?"

Starscream growled quietly upon recognizing the signal.

'_It couldn't be_.' He thought.

Starscream headed outside the base, transforming as soon as he could before taking off in the direction he knew the signal was coming from in a forested area.

"Transform!" He shouted before landing on the ground among the many trees surrounding him. He lifted his head up and he noticed something wasn't right at all. When it came to situations like these Starscream knew that he could trust his instincts. "Someone's watching."

As if on queue Starscream saw a familiar shape starting to form in front of him.

"_Surprise_!" The familiar voice exclaimed as an equally familiar face appeared before him.

"Thrust!"

"Thanks for _coming_, Starscream. I was so _worried_ you wouldn't remember our little _signal_ I sent you on the Autobots' monitor. So, what's it like being a _traitor_?"

"Why you!" Starscream tried to hit Thrust, but he suddenly activated his cloaking device to get away from him. He was getting irritated. "You sniveling coward, show yourself and _fight_!"

"Please forgive _my _rudeness. I don't know what came over me." Thrust appeared near a group of trees. "I must confess, I too have become rather disheartened by Megatron."

Starscream tried to attack again , this time with his own wing sword, but the result was still the same when the cone-headed Decepticon disappeared.

"I've had enough of your _games_!" Starscream was starting to get frustrated. Thrust was toying with him! He knew it!

Suddenly Thrust appeared right in front of Starscream, causing him to back up slightly.

"I agree with _you_ that Megatron has _failed_ to prove himself as a leader." Thrust told him. "So join with me and together we can _bring _Megatron down!"

"No deal, Thrust!" Starscream got ready to attack, holding his sword with both servos.

"You are a _fool_ if you think you can destroy him the help of those pathetic Auto-_boobs_!"

Starscream growled quietly. Why was Thrust even telling him all of this? What purpose would it serve him if he did?

"What are you trying to pull?" Starscream asked. "Get to the point already!"

"Well then, here's a simple question. Have you considered _returning _to your comrades?" Thrust asked.

Starscream's optic widened.

"What? Back to the _lunar base_?"

"Yes, and may I suggest your chances of overthrowing Megatron are _greater _from within…"

"No way." Starscream answered, looking away. "Only a _fool_ with a death wish would return to stand before Megatron." He looked back at the mech in front of him. "And trust me, Thrust, _I_ for one am _not _a fool."

Starscream was about to slash Thrust when he disappeared. He looked around to see where he was, but it was futile. Thrust was using his cloaking device.

"Here's a _simple_ solution." Thrust started. "Bring Megatron some _worthless_ Autobot trophy and I assure you _all _will be forgiven."

"Trophy, you say?" Starscream turned around to face the direction Thrust's voice was coming from. Just as he expected, he appeared in front of him.

"Yes, something like - I don't know, the Skyboom _Shield_, _perhaps_? It's just a _thought_."

"No!"

Of course Thrust would disappear as soon as he tried to attack him.

"There's _no_ hurry, Starscream. Take your _time_. And when you've decided, you can tell me your decision _back_ at the lunar base."

"Erggh, why the nerve!" He growled as he stood up. "Transform!"

Starscream then flew back in the direction of the Autobot base.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Thrust watched Starscream fly away and uncloaked himself.

"Excellent…" He said. "The seed has been planted."

"Yes... Your dramatic skills _truly_ impress me, Thrust." He heard the footsteps that approached him from behind before they stopped. But Thrust had nothing to worry about since he knew _who _was behind him. "But do you _really _believe you convinced him that by joining forces with you, it's his best option to destroy Megatron?"

Thrust smirked behind his face mask.

"I _do_, Sideways. But now imagine how _shocked_ he would be if he only knew that _you_ and _I _had formed an alliance."

"So would Megatron…. Hahaha…" Sideways quietly chuckled darkly.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Blurr was walking down the hallway, but then he spotted Starscream just standing around. The three Mini-Cons that stood behind the ex-Decepticon bleeped and the blue mech decided to approach him.

"Hey. Starscream…" Blurr said, coming over to stand next to him.

"Hmmm?" Starscream asked.

"What's wrong?"

"Uh, _nothing's_ wrong." Starscream lowered his helm. He then started walking off. "I, uh, better _go_, I've got work to do."

"Hmmm?" Blurr was confused as he watched Starscream walk down the hallway. He then turned to look down at the three Mini-Cons that now stood behind him. "Don't ask me _why_, you guys, but I got a _feeling _something smells fishy here."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Starscream swung his sword, holding it in place in front of him.

"Why _now_? Why - am I _doubting_ myself?" He asked himself as he slashed the air with his sword. For some reason, his moves, his swings, they felt…off. He didn't know _why _they did, but he just knew that something was off. Maybe he was losing focus. That had to be it. "Concentrate." He continued cutting through the air. "And the strange _feeling_ I get from the _humans_..."

Starscream thought back to the human younglings, how they had been smiling and laughing at him after yelling out 'surprise!' to him. He had never expected them to through him a party, let alone give him a present. No one had ever done something so nice for him before that it confused him. But the smile on _her _face! The way _she _looked at him. Something about it made his spark pulse faster. And the emotions he would feel! He yelled not only in confusion, but in frustration! What was he supposed to _think_? What was he supposed to _do_?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Well…I think that _just_ about does it…" Jetfire said. He was staring at the monitor he and Hot Shot were standing in front of. The multiple screens in front of them showed angles of the ship they were working on, but it was mainly the frame that they managed to complete.

"I'm all done over here, Jetfire." Hot Shot said.

"Guys!" We all turned to see Billy and Fred running into the room when we heard the latter's voice. "We just saw a coneheaded Decepticon!"

"You mean _Thrust_?" Blurr asked, looking down at the two boys.

"He was just outside our base." Billy stated.

"What are we waiting for?" Hot Shot asked, coming over to where Blurr, Sideswipe, and the boys were. "C'mon, let's go get 'im!"

"Yeah, baby!" Sideswipe agreed as he and Blurr turned to the yellow Autobot.

"Hang on a sec, Hot Shot. Starscream chased the creep away already." Fred told them. He then clasped his hands next to the right side of his head in a dreamy look, eyes closed and everything. "Starscream is my _hero_."

Okay, what Fred did was just messed up. Hot Shot leaned close to look at Fred, giving him a weird look.

"You are _one twisted _kid."

"What's so wrong with a kid having a hero, huh?" Billy asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Yeaha, like Starscream's a _hero_!" Jetfire laughed dryly in a mocking sort of way. He stopped as soon as Starscream walked into the room. "Uhh... Starscream! We were just - _talking _about you!"

"I hope it was all good." Starscream said after a short pause.

"Don't play dumb with us, buddy." Blurr said as he stood in front of the ex-Decepticon. "Fred just told us you drove off Thrust. Way to cover our backs, Starscream." Something about his tone sounded accusing to me.

"Oh, that. Yeah, right."

Sideswipe smiled as he looked at the ex-Decepticon.

"I wish I'd been there to _see _you in action, my friend." Sideswipe said.

"_There _you are. Where'd you take off to?"

We all turned to the doorway just as Hoist walked into the room.

"What's up with you, Hoist?" Hot Shot asked.

"That's what I came to find out." Hoist answered. "I can't find the Skyboom Mini-Cons anywhere."

"Hey, uh, that _reminds _me, Starscream." Fred suddenly said, causing the Autobots (including Starscream) to look at him. "Didn't that coneheaded guy ask you to bring the Skyboom Shield with you to their moon base?"

"Yeah, what's up with that, anyway?" Billy asked.

Everyone turned to look at Starscream, most of them having an accusing look in their optics. I suddenly felt dread as I knew what was coming next.

"Don't tell me you're about to double-_cross _us!" Jetfire growled, his gold optics narrowed at him.

"Did you hand over those three Mini-Cons to them, Starscream?" Hoist asked.

"Uhh... No…" Starscream answered, turning away. "D-d-don't be ridiculous."

"But you do admit you saw him outside our base, right?" Blurr asked when he turned to him.

Starscream turned to look over his shoulder.

"I just _knew _this would happen!" Hoist stated.

"Hold your horses, men!" Everyone looked at Hot Shot as they wondered what he had to say. "C'mon. Let's not jump to any conclusions here. Starscream is on _our_ side, don't you remember? And don't forget, he's innocent unless he's proven guilty!" The yellow Autobot looked at everyone pointedly before going up to Starscream and placing a hand on his shoulder. Hot Shot looked like he was trying to help him. "Okay, Starscream, help me out and explain what's up here. Because if ya _don't_, let's put it _this_ way, you are _so_ out the creek. And right now, you look _pretty _guilty."

"Guilty, huh?" Starscream asked, sounding somewhat hopeless before hanging his head slightly. "I don't think it matters what I say because you've already _convicted _me. But thanks for trying, Hot Shot."

"Er, that is _not _true!"

"Please, let's face facts. _I am _much different than you." Starscream looked away. "I was programmed as a Decepticon and I don't apologize for that. I've _tried_ my _best_ to understand the way you and the others think. But I must admit, it was a _failed _experiment."

"No one _said_ you did it!" He said, taking a step forward. "We just wanna know the truth!"

Starscream turned to look back at Hot Shot.

"But you can't _handle _the truth!"

Hot Shot gasped quietly as he took a few steps back from the ex-Decepticon. He looked as if he didn't believe what Starscream was saying. I knew this wasn't right. It wasn't right that everyone in the room (besides myself, Billy, Fred, and Hot Shot) were accusing the Starscream of doing something he hadn't done. At least, I hope he hadn't. I wanted to believe that he was innocent, but I wasn't sure.

"What's all this ruckus?"

Everyone turned to find Optimus enter the room.

"Optimus-sir…" Hot Shot said.

"The three Skyboom Shield Mini-Cons are missing, sir." Hoist told the Autobot leader.

"The kids told us they saw Thrust outside our base and he was _insisting_ Starscream deliver the Skyboom Shield to their lunar base." Sideswipe added. "That's the story so far, sir. Starscream isn't saying _anything_."

"Hmmm... Starscream, _explain_ yourself." Optimus said, but suddenly the alarm went off. "What-?"

I turned to the monitor and my eyes widened when I saw the Decepticons were being displayed. Tidal Wave and Cyclonus were flying in the air while Demolishor and another Decepticons that I didn't recognize where driving. We were about to be attacked!

"Decepticons!" Blurr said.

"Okay, men! Let's move out!" Optimus ordered.

Everyone complied. As everyone else was starting to leave the room Jetfire stood to glance down at me with a serious look in his optics.

"Stay with Billy and Fred." He told me.

I nodded, knowing that I shouldn't argue with him. I was slightly worried as I watched him leave the room and clenched a hand gently over my heart.

'_Please be careful._' I thought, knowing he would hear me.

_**{I will.}**_

I turned back to the monitor and watched the footage that was being shown to us. I sat down in the seat near a monitor and I looked up to watch the battle.

"Heh, heh, heh. Attack NOW!" Tidal Wave's voice said from the speakers.

"Hahahahahaha! Woohoo! Hahaha! Ready or _noooot_, here we _coooome_!" Cyclonus taunted. On another monitor I could see Optimus, Hot Shot, Blurr, Sideswipe, Hoist, and Scavenger driving towards the Decepticons in order to confront them. Even if I couldn't see him at the moment, I knew Jetfire was in the sky trying to sneak his way in. "Ha, ha, ha, hahahaha! Hahaha, woohoo! Locked on and - FIRING!" Suddenly Jetfire appeared in shuttle form in front of Cyclonus. "Uh-oh… looks like we've got _company_, boys!"

"I hope you brought a _parachute_, Deceptifool, 'cause you're going _down_!" Jetfire said as he started shooting at Cyclonus. He managed to successfully hit Cyclonus.

"Aaah! I'm hit, I'm hit!" Cyclonus cried as he started falling to the ground.

"You'll _pay _for that, Autobot!" Demolishor yelled before firing on Jetfire. who dodges the attack. The shuttle mech managed to move out of the way to avoid getting hit. "Get on him, Tidal Wave!"

"Your wish is my command." Tidal Wave said.

Tidal Wave flew close to Jetfire and started firing on him. I eyes widened in fear as I watched him getting hit and I suddenly felt worried. I was about to reach out to him through the connection, but then I realized that I would be doing more harm than good since it would do nothing more than distract him.

'_Jetfire…_' I thought.

"Look! Jetfire's taking a pounding." Billy exclaimed.

"This isn't good." I said.

"Hey, wait a minute! How come Starscream's not out there helping?" Fred asked.

"How can you tell who's out there, Fred? They're kicking up too much dust."

Billy was right. We could barely see what was happening because of the dust the conflict had created. But where was Starscream?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Starscream had managed to get away from the battle and flew up into the sky

"Transform!" He yelled and he changed into hi bi-pedal form. He looked around, knowing that the one he was looking for was around. "Thrust, _show _yourself!"

And right on queue, Thrust did show himself.

"Have you _made_ your _decision_?" Thrust asked.

Starscream smirked.

"I have, Thrust. I think I'll stay put _here_ with bots I can _trust_." He answered, pulling out the Star Saber. But there was a new addition to the weapon itself. Tied to the hilt of the Star Saber was the shammy the kids had given him.

"You _disappoint_ me. And you'll _live_to regret your decision."

"What?" Starscream's optics widened.

"Starscream, I fully understand your desire for revenge against Megatron."

Starscream managed to recover and smirked again.

"You don't understand anything _about_ me, Thrust. _I'll_ get my _revenge_ because I have the _tools _to get the job done. So out of my _way_, or I'll _slice_ you in half, you pathetic _snake_!"

"Oh, you talk a _tough_ game." Thrust narrowed his pink optics. "Name your _price_, Starscream. Join forces with _me_ and together we can take down Megatron!" So Thrust was going to use this trick again by trying to manipulate him with the fact that he wanted revenge. "I, too, am a warrior on a mission. I aspire to lead the Decepticons to victory, yet one obstacle remains in my way - a _thorn_, if you will - and I intend to _pluck_ it! Hahahaha! Why are you _resisting_ my offer? You know there is strength in numbers, Starscream. So, shall we unite and bring down Megatron together? Hmmm? I _need_ you, Starscream!"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot continued fighting along his comrade and he noticed when Optimus and Jetfire Powerlinked together to fight against Tidal Wave. The huge Decepticon tried to fire at Optimus, but he managed to dodge the attack by flying away. Optimus then fired at him, causing Tidal Wave to come crashing down on the ground.

'_Now's my chance!_' Hot Shot thought as he started taking aim at the huge Decepticon.

As soon as Tidal Wave transformed into his bi-pedal form Hot Shot fired and ended up shooting the Decepticon in the optic.

"All right! That's a _bulls eye_! _Literally_!" Hot Shot cheered. But then Tidal Wave turned to where he was and started firing at him. He managed to dodge out of the way. "Time to - transform!"

Hot Shot changed into his alt-mode and started driving away from Tidal Wave.

"You are _mine_, Autobot!" Tidal Wave roared.

He continued driving away as he dodged Tidal Wave's attacks.

"Oh _man_, this is getting a little _too _close for comfort." Hot Shot drove into the forest up head. Perfect! He'd take cover there! "Transform!" He skidded to a stop before hiding behind a tree and crouching down as well. "Okay, you overgrown lughead, just _keep _going." He whispered. Hot Shot felt anxious as he watched Tidal Wave look around, but then he felt relief when he saw him walk off in a different direction. "Boy, that creep's dumber than a bar of soap." Suddenly his audio receptors picked up a sound and he turned to the direction it was coming from-the bushes! "Hey, who's out there?"

Hot Shot had expected a Decepticon to come out, maybe even Tidal Wave, but then he would've seen him by now. What he didn't expect was to see Rad, Carlos, and Alexis come out of the bushes.

"Hey, it's us, Hot Shot!" Carlos cried.

"Hey, what in the world are _you_ kids _doing_ way out here, huh? What?" Suddenly Hot Shot noticed a familiar bleeping sound. His blue optics widened when he saw the three Mini-Cons that were standing behind the kids. "Dirt Boss! Mirage! Downshift! We've been _looking _all over for you guys. We thought you might've been captured by the Decepticons."

"We were just trying to help out so we decided to take them for a walk." Alexis told him.

"_Huh_?" A walk? They took the Mini-Cons for a _walk_?

"Sorry, Hot Shot." Rad said, looking guilty. "I guess we should've told someone what we were doing with them."

Guilty! Starscream! So it turned out that he was innocent the whole time! Hot Shot looked away, feeling horrible now that he was reminded of what happened earlier.

"Oh no, I almost _forgot_. We accused Starscream of _stealing _them." Hot Shot said.

"Huh?"

He could hear the confusion in Rad, Carlos, and Alexis voices just from that one word. He then turned to the kids, or more specifically, the Mini-Cons.

"Okay, you guys. Listen up good. I need you to Powerlink into the Shield."

As soon as the Mini-Cons complied Hot Shot grabbed the Skyboom Shield and ran off to rejoin the battlefield. He had to hurry or they might lose this battle! The conflict was still going on and he could see Hoist as he took cover behind a bunch of rocks and boulders. He suddenly looked up when he noticed Hot Shot rushing over to him before vaulting over the rock wall the white mech was taking cover behind. He turned to him, determined to tell Hoist what had _really _happened to the Mini-Cons.

"Starscream is _innocent_!" Hot Shot told him. "He never _stole_ the Mini-Cons, Hoist! They were _with_ the kids!"

"Great." Hoist said, placing his servos on the Skyboom Shield "I guess we all owe Starscream a giant Autobot apology."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Heh, heh, heh, heh…" Thrust chuckled. "It seems your _friends _have found what they were _looking_ for."

Starscream glanced down at the ground to see that Hot Shot and Hoist had the Skyboom Shield. He looked back at Thrust, anger clearly showing on his face.

"I've had _enough_ of you!" He growled.

Starscream tried to attack Thrust, but something was wrong.

"Why are you angry at _me_?" Thrust asked. "I only wanted to form an _alliance _with you."

"What's that?" Starscream looked at him.

"We _both_ want Megatron _destroyed_. But _why_ do you _insist_ on working _against _me?"

"That's _enough_! Stop yammering!" Starscream yelled. He slashed at Thrust in an attempt to strike him down, but for some reason he couldn't do it. What was stopping him? "Why can't I - _destroy_ him?"

Starscream thought back on the kids and when he had been with them earlier that day for the party they planned for him.

_"Surprise!" _They had said to him with nothing more than smiles and cheerful looks on their faces. He remembered how he felt when he received the shammy he now possessed.

"_And we even got a cake."_

"The decision is _yours_. You can either become _soft _and _forget_ your _glorious heritage_ or you can _join me_. And if you decide the latter, it is only a matter of _time _before we _drink_ from the cup of _victory_! You must _choose_, but I suggest you choose _wisely_." Thrust told him. Why was he feeling this way? Why was he feeling so…conflicted all of a sudden? He looked up at Thrust in time to see his pink optics narrow at him. "Your childish blathering annoys me, Starscream. _You_ are a _Decepticon_, now _act_ like _one_!"

"Huh?"

The confusion Starscream felt from all the conflicting thoughts in his processor weren't helping. He looked down at the battle below him, seeing that Optimus was taking cover behind a boulder as Tidal Wave fired at him. He glanced at Thrust before turning his gaze over to where Hot Shot and Hoist were, seeing that the latter held the Skyboom Shield.

"_Well_?"

Starscream watched as Hoist started swinging the Skyboom Shield around in his arm before throwing it in Optimus' direction.

"_Well_?" Thrust asked impatiently.

Starscream growled before punching the mech in his face and flew off. He had finally made his decision.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Why you…!" Thrust growled as he got up. He then noticed that Starscream flew off and grinned behind his face mask. "Hehehahahaha... I don't believe it. It _worked_! It actually _worked_! Starscream _bought_ it! Ohhhooh, and don't think I'll _forget_ about your little _moment_ of _insubordination_, Starscream!"

He decided that he would just watch and see as his plan unfolded before his optics.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_**Deception  
Disgrace  
Evil as plain as the scar on his face**_

Starscream flew towards Optimus, knowing that the Skyboom Shield was heading in that direction.

"Good work, Hoist!" Optimus yelled, but then his optics had widened in surprise from what he did next. "What?"

"Optimus-sir!"

_**Deception (An outrage!)**_  
_**(He can't change his stripes!)**_  
_**Disgrace (For shame!)**_  
_**(You know these Outsider types!)**_

_**He asked for trouble the moment he came**_  
_**(See you later, agitator!)**_

Starscream now had the Skyboom Shield in his possession and flew off. He had down it. He had done the one thing that he had tried so hard not to do, but here he was, flying away with the Skyboom Shield. He felt horrible for what he'd done. He had betrayed the Autobots and the kids. He had betrayed _her_.

_**Deception (An outrage!)**_  
_**(Just leave us alone!)**_  
_**Disgrace (For shame!)**_  
_**(Traitor, go back with your own!)**_

_**He asked for trouble the moment he came  
(See you later, agitator!)**_

Starscream glanced down at the shammy tied around the hilt of the Star Saber. He didn't deserve it. A traitor like him didn't deserve such a present from those who had trusted him. He had betrayed them. Starscream untied the shammy from the Star Saber, giving it one last look as he held it in his servo before releasing it.

_**Born in grief  
Raised in hate  
Helpless to defy his fate  
Let him run  
Let him live  
But do not forget  
What we cannot forgive**_

'_I don't _know_ if this _is_ the right choice. I have made my decision._' He thought as he watched the shammy flutter through the air as it floated down to the ground below.

"Well? _What_is it?" Thrust asked him.

'_I must do everything there is in my power to bring Megatron down. And I swear I will _crush_ him _personally_…_'Starscream watched as the shammy continued to fluttering around in the air."Goodbye, kids. And thanks. I'll never forget you."

_**And he is not one of us  
He has never been one of us  
He is not part of us  
Not our kind**_

With that Starscream and Thrust warped back to the Decepticon base. Back to the lunar base. Back to where a traitor like him was supposed to be.

_**Someone once lied to us  
Now we're not so blind  
For we knew he would do what he's done  
And we know that he'll never be one of us  
**__**He is not one of us**_

Maybe that movie he had seen with Alexis and Valerie had been right. His situation hadn't been any different that Kovu's and the similarities were the same as the ones he had been through. And then he remembered the song that had really gotten to him.

_**Deception**_  
_**Disgrace**_  
_**Deception**_  
_**Disgrace**_  
_**Deception**_

After all, he was not an Autobot…

And he was not one of them…

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot's wide blue optics continued to stare at the spot Starscream had once been in the sky. He started walking forward, completely shocked.

"I can't _believe _this. Starscream…" Hot Shot stopped walking and stood where he was. This wasn't supposed to happen! Starscream was supposed to come back with them to the base once this battle was over! He was supposed to be there when they finally apologized to him for their accusations against him! "Why, Starscream? _WHYYY!_?"

* * *

ATE: I'm so glad that I was finally able to get this chapter out to everyone to enjoy. I really need to get started on the next chapter right away. I also need to update Astera as well. Due to a request I had gotten from **Crystalmaiden62** when this chapter was still being written, she had said "I wonder what Valerie would look like dressed up as Siu Sin." So I did a drawing the next day after I told her I would do so and the drawing is currently up on deviantart. Here's the link (without spaces):

http : / aerith -the- evenstar . deviantart . com /#/ d4eu stj

Anyways, if anyone has any ideas they'd like to see in any future chapters, feel free to share and I'll give credit. Please remember to review! ;D


	15. Threaten

ATE: Hey everyone! New record! It officially took me two weeks to finish this chapter! And good news is that it broke the chain of increasingly long chapters now. Now, I gotta thank **Azura Soul Reaver**, **Crystalmaiden62**, **Sailor Shinzo**, **Diamond White**, **Bumblebeecamaro38**, and **Taeniaea **for their reviews on chapter 14 and everyone else who's still reading/following this story so far. This chapter is based off of Episode 38 (Threaten) and as such I named the chapter after the episode. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers Armada. I only own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

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Chapter 15: Threaten

I stared at the monitor in shock after having witnessed what happened with Billy and Fred. The fact that Starscream betrayed us was just _unbelievable_! But why would he betray us? What were his reasons for doing so? I noticed that there was something fluttering through the sky and I felt slightly hurt when I discovered it was the shammy we had works so to make and give to Starscream. This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen. Was this because the he had enough of the other Autobots treating him unfairly? Was that why he left?

I felt horrible as I realized that this was probably painful for Alexis. I remembered that during last week Starscream had approached me, saying that he wanted to discuss something with me in private. At first I had been confused, but then I was shocked when he informed me that he knew that Jetfire and I were sparkmates. I thought I would've been in trouble, but he said that he wouldn't tell anyone. Starscream started explaining to me the reason why he wanted to talk to me and I was surprised to discover that Alexis was his sparkmate and that he was aware of that. He had been confused since he didn't know how to feel about it, so I ended up having to explain (as best as I could, which was sort of difficult for me) what love was to him. I even gave him examples from the two movies he had seen with Alexis in order to make it easier for him to understand. He seemed to get the idea, but was still somewhat confused.

Looking back on that now, I had a feeling that Alexis was going to need someone to comfort her, someone that would understand what she's going through. I was probably the only person who could do it…but how was I supposed to do it?

'_I have to at least try to help._' I thought, surprised at how determined I suddenly felt. '_Alexis has helped me all the time, so now it's my turn to help her._'

Everything seemed to happen so quickly because the next thing I knew Optimus, Jetfire, Blurr, Hot Shot, Rad, Alexis, and Carlos were in the room. I saw the betrayed look on Carlos' face as he held his Mars rock in the palm of his hand.

"How could Starscream _do_ this to us?" Carlos asked and clutched the rock in his hand. "That liar! Aaah!" He then threw his rock on the floor, resulting in a clattering sound as it made contact with the metal floor. "That creep!"

"Huh?" Jetfire and Blurr both turned to see what was going on and witnessing what was taking place in the room.

"Hey, take it easy." Rad said as he faced Carlos.

"No way! Carlos is right!" Billy stated, causing Rad to turn to him before throwing his rock to the floor.

"Now stop that. Those are valuable." Alexis said. My gaze softened as I realized that she was doing her best to keep composed despite the pain I knew she was probably feeling at the moment.

"Yeah, Billy. Those rocks are from Mars." Rad added.

Suddenly Fred dumped his huge Mars rock on the ground, the sound from the heavy object landed on the floor causing us to turn and look at him.

"I believed him. I _trusted_ him." It turned out that Fred was crying as he howled. "How could he do this to me?"

"He's lost it." Alexis murmured.

Hot Shot had been watching all this happened before he walked out of the room. Optimus had watched him leave the room as well and I could only imagine the disappointment and betrayal they felt. Optimus may have been more understanding than Hot Shot, but then the yellow Autobot had been starting to trust Starscream only to be betrayed. If Alexis or Jetfire had betrayed me I probably would've felt the same way as Hot Shot.

But the thought of Jetfire betraying me…

I felt his concern and dull pain flood my mind from picking up my thoughts and I felt as if he were trying to hold me. I clung to that feeling as I tried my best to keep myself from crying in front of everyone.

_**{I'd never betray you, Skydancer…} **_Jetfire told me.

'_I know. But despite how Alexis is holding up I know she's hurting big time._' I replied. I felt Jetfire's confusion as he silently asked me what I was talking about. I sighed quietly. '_Jetfire. Alexis is Starscream's sparkmate._'

Jetfire's shock was expected, but not to the extent that it was. I felt his anger towards Starscream start anew from what I told him. It was so strong that I had to constantly remind myself that it wasn't my anger that I was feeling, but his, and I was fully aware as to why. The fact that the ex…or the Decepticon had betrayed his own sparkmate and she wouldn't even know why she felt the way she did. Which gave me a whole new reason to comfort her.

Alexis…

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Starscream stood near the table that was in front of the throne Megatron sat upon with Thrust a bit behind him to the side. On the table was the Star Saber, the weapon he had wielded countless times in the past two weeks, and the Skyboom Shield, the weapon he had just stolen from the Autobots just recently.

"Hahaha... It's good to have you back with us, Starscream." Megatron said. "And thank you for bringing the two most _powerful_ weapons with you. Hahahaha…"

"Let me take a closer look at those weapons to see if they're authentic." Thrust said, making to grab the Star Saber from the table, but Starscream stopped him. "Huh?" Thrust looked up at him with his pink optics.

"Don't worry. They're the real _deal_." Starscream growled quietly. "Now back off."

"Why so _defensive_? We're on the same _side_."

'_Or so you say, Thrust._' Starscream thought cynically.

"Yeah, I know."

"Thrust, stand down." Megatron said before turning to Starscream. "Starscream, bring them to _me_."

"Yessir." Thrust bowed to Megatron, showing that he would obey the Decepticon leader.

Starscream approached the table before picking up the Star Saber and the Skyboom Shield in each servo (the Sword in his right servo, while the Shield was in his left). As he made his way over to Megatron he couldn't help but think back on what happened when he took the Skyboom Shield from the Autobots and the fact that he betrayed them and what little trust he may have had with them. He was no stranger to betrayal himself-it happened in wars all the time-but how come this recent betrayal left a bad taste in his mouth? What made this one so different than the others? Had he made the right choice?

'_Of course I have._' He told himself.

But then why did the thought of seeing Alexis' sad face bother him when he hadn't even seen that expression with his own optics yet? Starscream dismissed the thought from his processor before holding the Star Saber out to Megatron.

"The Star Saber sword, sir." He announced, bowing his head as he did so.

It was quiet as Starscream assumed Megatron was examining the Star Saber he held out to him.

"It looks real to me." Megatron chuckled quiet, causing Starscream to look up to find the mech in front of him grinning. "I must say very impressive, Starscream. Yes…"

Megatron sounded amused so Starscream took that as a sign to continue.

"Thank you. And here's the Skyboom Shield."

Megatron stood up from his throne, walking the short distance to where Starscream stood before taking the weapons in his servos. He couldn't help but wonder what the Decepticon leader was thinking about as he watched his red optics gaze down at the Shield and Sword. Megatron then turned to walk a bit closer to his throne.

"Starscream." Megatron started. It was quiet and Starscream gazed at him, feeling anxious about what he would say or do next. "There's just one _last_ thing."

Suddenly Megatron turned around and pointed the tip of the Star Saber close to Starscream's face. He could practically feel the heat radiating off of the beaming blade.

"Huh?" Thrust sounded surprised.

"W-what's wrong, Megatron-sir?" Starscream asked fearfully.

What happened? Thrust had told him that Megatron would've forgiven his transgressions against him if he brought the Skyboom Shield to him! So why was he at the end of the blue beam of bright plasma that made up the Star Saber's blade? Had his sins been too great that they were beyond the point of ever being forgiven?

"Hmm…" Megatron regarded Starscream with a stern look, but then… "Ha, ha, ha, ha!" He laughed before removing the Star Saber away from him. Starscream relaxed, feeling slightly relieved. "Take some time off. You've earned it."

Starscream was still surprised as he watched Megatron walk away from him.

"Uh, thank you very much, sir." Starscream said, feeling confused.

"Ah, at last we have all three weapons." Megatron turned to Thrust. "It's time. Thrust, it's up to you. Complete our little project we had planned."

"Oh, yes, sir." Thrust replied, bowing slightly. "It will be an honor."

"Complete the project?" Starscream asked quietly. What project?

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Jetfire stood with Sideswipe as they both watched Hot Shot shooting at a target with his blaster. He could tell that the yellow mech was angry, and he was taking that anger out on the targets in the training room since he kept shooting until there was nothing left of the target except for small piece of scrap metal. Jetfire sighed mentally as another target appeared for Hot Shot to abuse.

'_To think I was doing the same thing two weeks ago._' He thought sadly, recalling the incident that had happened between Valerie and himself.

He remembered how he had stood in this very room with his own blaster in servo and shooting at all the targets in his anger. Every target he gazed at he imagined a random human boy (the appearances seeming to be generated from his own CPU) in its place, thinking of the high possibility that they were his sparkmate's secret admirer before blasting them to smithereens. He knew harming humans wasn't the Autobot way, but that logical part of his processor was pushed aside since Valerie was involved (in fact she had been in the middle of it all). She was his sparkmate and that automatically meant she belonged to him and him only. He didn't want to think of her as his property, but what other word could he use to describe his possessiveness of her?

"Hey brother? Just relax." Sideswipe said.

Jetfire could tell that Sideswipe was trying to reason with Hot Shot and calm him down, but the yellow mech was ignoring him. He couldn't help but wonder if he had really been the same way as well. Sideswipe tried to approach Hot Shot, but Jetfire stopped him by grabbing his arm, causing the younger mech to look up at him with a confused look showing on his face and blue optics.

"Let 'im…get it out of his system." Jetfire told him calmly. He knew that Hot Shot needed to blow off some steam after what happened in battle earlier.

Sideswipe looked at him before turning back to watch Hot Shot continue to destroy more targets.

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Alexis sat outside the base as she hugged her legs close to her chest, a gloomy look on her face as she gazed out at the orange sky. She had to admit that it was pretty and she could see why Valerie loved to gaze at the sky. Alexis thought back on the party they put together for Starscream earlier when he had first gotten the shammy they made him.

"_Thank you, Starscream_." They had all said to him with cheerful smiles on their faces

"How could he?" Alexis asked, feeling so sad. Her chest ached slightly ever since Starscream's betrayal. At first she had dismissed it as nothing, but it still continued to feel that way. "Hmmm?"

She turned to Sureshock, who bleeped as she stood next to her. Alexis knew the orange Mini-Con was trying to cheer her up. She smiled sadly as she moved her head as if shrugging, causing Sureshock to give her what looked to be a sympathetic expression as she bleeped again.

"Thanks a lot, Sureshock." Alexis told her Mini-Con companion.

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I watched the conversation between Alexis and Sureshock from the doorway of the base. I felt sorry for my friend for having to deal with Starscream's betrayal, and it didn't help that she was his sparkmate. I felt so unsure about telling her or not, but what if I told her about my relationship with Jetfire? Would that help things out as I try to explain what she's possibly feeling? Or would it make things worse? What would she think if I told her that being his sparkmate meant that I was literally betrothed to him since the day I was born? Would she look at me with disgust for being so in love with Jetfire? Would she stop being my friend and want nothing to do with me? I was too anxious and scared at I felt rooted in place.

'_What do I do?_' I thought desperately. '_What do I do, Jetfire?_'

_**{Just tell her the truth.} **_Jetfire's voice answered. I could feel his presence in my mind as he tried to reassure and encourage me. _**{Remember what I told you earlier today, Valerie.}**_

I suddenly thought back on what Jetfire told me about my name. He believed that I was capable of being brave and had given me incidents I've been through in the past as examples. If he believed in me, then I should believe in myself, right? I took a deep breath before making my way over to Alexis.

"Hey, Alexis." I greeted quietly, causing her to turn and look at me over her shoulder. "You wouldn't mind if I sat with you, right?"

Alexis shook her head.

"Go ahead." She told me. "I probably need another girl around besides Sureshock."

At this Sureshock started bleeping at Alexis smiled a small smile before giggling quietly.

"Oh course I didn't forget about you, Sureshock. Why would you say that?"

Sureshock responded by bleeping again.

"I'm not dissing you. We girls have to stick together, you know?"

I felt slightly confused by their conversation since I didn't know what Sureshock was saying. Apparently Alexis was able to understand what she was saying, almost like how I had been able to understand Sky Blast. I felt slightly sad. The Decepticons had Sky Blast since he was one of the Mini-Cons that created the Requiem Blaster. I hope he was okay.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"She said, 'You didn't forget me, did you?' and then, 'Because it sounded like you were dissing me.'" Alexis told me.

I couldn't help but giggle as well before turning to Sureshock and smiled.

"We're not forgetting you, Sureshock." I told the orange Mini-Con. "You're part of our group of girls despite how small it might be."

Sureshock bleeped, sounding happy. Alexis giggled, causing me to look back at her.

"What did she say now?"

"She said, 'Thank you, Valerie. You are a good friend among Mini-Cons just like Alexis and the others.'" Alexis said.

I couldn't help but feel happy by this.

"No problem. I try."

It was quiet between the three of us as we gazed at the sky. It was a nice orange color, with some purple as well. Alexis sighed.

"I can see why you like looking at the sky." Alexis suddenly said. "It's…pretty to look at. Almost like it also has emotions that change each day." I turned to Alexis, my gaze softening as I looked at her. She then turned to look at me with her green eyes. "There was another reason why you came to talk to me, isn't there?"

I was surprised by this and averted my gaze.

"…How did you know?" I asked.

"Valerie, we've known each other since kindergarten. Not only are we best friends, but we're practically sisters if you think about it." She giggled. "Besides, you're sometimes happen to be like an open book and be predictable. Lately I've noticed that you've started to change."

"Y-you have?"

"Yeah, but in a good way. You've even gotten a bit more confident in yourself as well. How come?"

I felt my face heat up slightly, knowing that I would have to discuss this with her eventually. I sighed. Here goes nothing.

"What I'm about to tell you is a secret. You can't tell _anyone_." I glanced over at Sureshock. "The same goes for you too."

Sureshock made a bleeping sound that I assumed was confirmation before turning back to Alexis.

"Don't worry. I won't tell." Alexis told me. "But what is it?"

"Well…" My face got warmer. "I'm…uh…Jetfire and I are…"

I watched as Alexis' eyes widened in realization, but then she suddenly grinned.

"I knew it! I knew you liked him and that there was something going on between you two! That little incident between the two of you a couple weeks ago made it obvious."

"But here's the thing, Alexis. It's more than just a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. I'm literally engaged to him since I'm his sparkmate."

"Engaged? As in you'll eventually get _married _to him?" I nodded in reply. "And what's a sparkmate?"

"A sparkmate is like a soul mate, except it's much deeper than that. From what I've learned from Jetfire, it's like an arranged marriage that's been predetermined by Primus, the transformers' god, before they're even born."

"You mean this deity called Primus actually chose you and Jetfire to be sparkmates before you were both even born?" I nodded. "But how did Jetfire even know you were his sparkmate?"

"It's kinda complicated, but I'll try to explain it. He told me that a transformer knows when they found their sparkmate when they see each other for the first time. I can't exactly say if it's a 'love at first sight' sort of thing, but I guess it was like that for him since he knew I was the one. It's when they meet for the first time that this link called an engagement connection is formed between sparkmates, but it has to develop with time spent between them. You remember when I told you that I had that strange feeling that something wrong had happened to Jetfire?"

"Yeah, I'm still wondering what that's about." Alexis replied.

"That actually had to do with the connection between me and Jetfire. There were and are still other signs about the connection we have. I always feel comfortable around him, and we've been able to talk telepathically with each other while feeling each other's emotions, but we can block each other's end of the connection if we want to." I deliberately left out the part about Jetfire and I being about to be together while we're asleep.

"You mean he can actually _read _your mind if he wanted to?"

"Believe me, he already does that. He says that it's easy for him to read my thoughts since I'm still inexperienced when it comes to blocking them. It's only when I try really hard that I'm able to. I haven't been able to read his thoughts yet, though. When there was that whole secret admirer incident I actually tried so hard to block my thoughts so he won't know about it before I told him, but then Fred had to open his big mouth about it." I sighed sadly, remembering the way Jetfire's gold optics had glared at me that day, along with feeling his anger and jealousy. And the painful emptiness in my heart, that was something I would never forget. "It was because of that that Jetfire blocked his end of the connection from me whenever I tried to explain what happened."

"If the connection between the two of you is that strong, then was that why you…"

"Yes. When I tried to contact him to explain he rejected me and ended up hurting me as his way of keeping me out of his mind. The pain itself felt like being stabbed in the heart while being burned and shocked at the same time. I ended up throwing up because of it and I started to slowly lose myself and there was this huge emptiness in my heart where I knew he should've been. I lost all sense of feeling that I didn't feel any pain when I cut my finger from chopping up vegetables for dinner. I was so sad at first, but then I was so angry and indifferent. I almost tried to commit suicide, Alexis, but something stopped me. That was way I acted the way I did that day."

"That's enough, Valerie." Alexis said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I see how that incident affected the two of you, but it's over. It's obvious that Jetfire learned his lesson that day and you're both happy with each other." Her face set in a slight frown. "But why are you telling me this? What reason do you have?"

I gazed at Alexis, watching as a curious look appeared in her green eyes.

"Because…you're Starscream's sparkmate." I told her.

Alexis' face showed shock from this news and she pulled her hand away from my shoulder as it shook.

"I'm Starscream's _sparkmate_? But how? How do you know?"

"Starscream told me a week ago. He told me not to tell anyone else, but I thought you had a right to know since I understand what you're going through or how you feel. His betrayal hurt you the most, that I know for certain. You didn't deserve to have that happen to you. I just…want you to know that I'm here for you."

I saw tears start to form in Alexis' eyes before she hugged me. She buried her face in my shoulder as she cried from the sadness I knew she probably felt. I held her, trying my best to comfort her and be supportive as she dealt with her heartache. She really needed it.

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Starscream walked into a room that he could hear the other Decepticons working in. From where he stood he could see Cyclonus, Wheeljack, and Demolishor working hard. Starscream's optics narrowed when he saw Thrust started to approach them.

"I'll be going out for a while, and I want the _rest_ of you to keep working." Thrust said before walking off.

The three Decepticons below watched as Thrust walked out of the room.

"Who does he _think_ he is, ordering us around?" Cyclonus asked.

"And just where is he going, anyway?" Demolishor added.

'_Now's my chance._' Starscream thought as he decided to go after Thrust.

He soon found Thrust walking down the hallway, but when he turned around Starscream grabbed him in a headlock.

"I've got a _question_ for you." Starscream growled menacingly before dragging the coneheaded Decepticon off outside. Thrust had struggled slightly at first, but as they went outside the ship he suddenly stopped doing so. He found this suspicious for some reason, but he just released Thrust, glaring at him with his red orange optics. "I want some _answers_, Thrust!"

Starscream detached his left wing which changed into his red beamed sword before pointing it at Thrust's face to show that he meant business.

"What's this all about, Starscream?" Thrust asked somewhat confused.

"What is this _project_?" He narrowed his optics. "You'd better not _lie _to me."

"Ah, yes. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…"

Starscream found this weird. Why in Primus' name was Thrust laughing?

"What's so _funny_?" Starscream asked.

"Well, you didn't have to drag me out here to get information. I'll _gladly_ tell you _everything_." Thrust told him. Starscream pulled his sword away a bit, but only a bit. "Remember what happened when the three weapons, the Star Saber Sword, the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster came together?"

"Huh?" Starscream suddenly remembered what happen when he was with Jetfire on their mission to Mars. How the three weapons had suddenly started glowing that bright golden light before their powers collided together "Don't tell me - you want to _harness_ that power!"

"That's _right_! When you combine all three, you create a colossal weapon unlike _anything_ that's _ever_ been seen!"

"_Now_ I get it…!" Starscream growled. "And that's why you manipulated me to _get_ them!"

So this whole time he had been tricked to betray the Autobots _just _to give the Megatron and Thrust what they wanted the most! They wanted to create a weapon of mass destruction that they could possibly use against the Autobots! Starscream placed his sword right in Thrust's face again, showing just how much he _didn't _like the idea of being manipulated.

"I _had_ to do it... for _you_!"

"Do it for _me_?"

"Yes. You see, if you defeat Megatron, then I know _you_ will take command of the Decepticons. I've always been your ally, Starscream. I just had to hide it from the others so they wouldn't get suspicious. But, of course, if you don't _believe_ me, then there's nothing I can do about it now. Heh. whatever fate you feel I deserve then…" Thrust suddenly got down on his knees, something that surprised Starscream, but he didn't show it. "I am ready." Starscream growled quietly as he glared down at Thrust. "There is no _way_ that I can defeat Megatron on my own. And it doesn't make sense for me to carry on now, so might as well finish me off."

Starscream just glared at him for awhile before attaching his sword back on his left wing. With that he walked off. He wasn't going to waste anymore time with this coneheaded snake.

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Thrust watched gleefully as Starscream walked back inside the Decepticon ship, grinning behind his face mask. The fabric of lies would continue to be woven with the beautiful thread he was using, and Starscream was no exception to it. Of course he would be part of the plan, just as Megatron was as well. It was only a matter of time before their downfall.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh... He _really_ is a lot _dumber_ than he looks." Thrust said quietly.

From behind him Thrust heard the familiar deep voice chuckling quietly behind him and he turned to look at his…acquaintance.

"An _impressive_ performance, Thrust!" Sideways praised.

"You heard all _that_?" Thrust stood up from the ground he was kneeling on just as Sideways started approaching him.

"You're quite an _actor_."

"I _learned_ from the _best_."

"Heh, heh, heh. All we have to do now is bring it all together... And the Hydra Cannon will be _ours_. Heh, heh, heh…"

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Alexis sat at her desk in her room as she gazed down at the Mars rock she held. She remembered the day when Starscream and Jetfire had returned from their mission on Mars and how the Decepticon had brought them back the Mars rocks. She could still remember how happy they had all been to receive the gift from the red planet. So far only she, Valerie, and Rad had kept their rocks while Carlos, Billy, and Fred got rid of theirs. Maybe she and her other two friends believed that there was still some good left in Starscream and kept their rocks in hope that he would see the errors of his way.

But then the fact that she had just learned from Valerie that she was Starscream's sparkmate. But why did he tell Valerie and not her? Was it because he had been confused? Had he known about Valerie and Jetfire's relationship? That had to be the case; why else would Starscream tell her? He had to have been confused about his emotions since the Decepticons probably thought love was a useless emotion.

'_But at least Valerie told me about it._' She thought. '_Now I know why I feel the way I do. Why I feel so hurt from his betrayal._'

"Hmmm…" Alexis brought the rock close to her chest, holding it as if she wished hard enough the transformer that she had recently discovered to be her sparkmate would come back. But sadly, it wasn't going to happen, and that made her feel sad. "Starscream…"

Alexis suddenly got an idea and pulled the Mars rock away from her chest to gaze down at it. She noticed all the glittering green stones on the rock itself as the idea formed in her head. Maybe she could ask her dad for help with refining the rock so she could make a necklace out of it. It'd probably be big, but it would be a nice necklace, nonetheless.

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Jetfire stood in the command center with Optimus and Sideswipe observing the monitor that showed footage of the moon. The moon that just so happened to have the Decepticon base located there. He sighed mentally. The Decepticons were so close, and yet they were so far away as well. He personally wanted to make Starscream pay for betraying them, especially after he learned that the Decepticon was Alexis' sparkmate from Valerie. That's what really made him angry the most. If his own sparkmate had been able to inform Alexis about their relationship to the sad femme, then it would do some good for her to seek comfort in her friend. He smiled a small smile behind his gold face mask as he remembered how Alexis had said that she and Valerie were like sisters. It explained why they seemed to look out for each other.

"Hey, Optimus!" Hot Shot called as he ran over into the room.

"What is it, Hot Shot?" Optimus asked, turning to face the yellow mech.

"Maybe _we_ should go after the Decepticons before they come after _us_!"

"Now let's not be too hasty."

Jetfire turned around just in time to see Hot Shot stop in front of Optimus. He knew what was probably going through the younger Autobot's processor at the moment since it was no different than what he thought. But thousands of years of experience had taught him to always have a plan and be rational at times like these. After all, he was the Optimus' Vice Commander and strategist.

"But they've got the Sword, the Shield, _and_ the Gun!"

"I was _just_ going over some data." Jetfire said, his arms crossed behind his back. Hot Shot to look over at him. "I _think_ we _may_ be able to get those weapons back." He took a step forward as he said all this before turning to look over at Sideswipe. "How's it going, Sideswipe?"

"It's not looking good." Sideswipe answered, looking at Jetfire from where he stood in front of a monitor. "The Decepticons' warp gate is completely sealed."

"That _doesn't_ surprise me." And it really didn't.

"We know _exactly_ where they are. So let's use our _own_ launch gate." Hot Shot declared.

"That's too dangerous." Hot Shot turned to look at Sideswipe. "That would be like going into a tunnel that _had _no exit. That would be _crazy_."

"Aw, c'mon! There _must_ be some other way."

"I suppose we could try and use the spaceship maybe."

"Spaceship?"

"Ahh, it's nowhere _near _completion." Jetfire interjected.

Hot Shot turned to Jetfire.

"Well then that's it. We'll just have to hurry up and complete it, because we've got no other _choice_. C'mon, Sideswipe!"

With that Hot Shot ran out of the room.

"Uhh, sure. Where are we going?" Sideswipe asked before running after the yellow mech. "Hey, wait up?"

Optimus and Jetfire watched as Hot Shot and Sideswipe left the room in a hurry. Jetfire couldn't help but think of when he used to be like that when he was younger, but right now wasn't really a good time to think back on his sparklinghood. He made his processor up, knowing what he wanted to do once the spaceship was completed.

"Hmmm…" Optimus hummed.

"Optimus…" Jetfire started, causing his leader to turn and face him. "If you want me to, I'll pilot the ship to the Decepticon base. I can't _stand_ all this _waiting around_!"

"No! Your anger towards Starscream could cloud your judgment. And I need you here _right_ now." Optimus told him.

"Optimus, _please_!" He begged. He was starting to get frustrated and from the connection he could feel Valerie trying to calm him down, but it barely did anything to help him. So she was still awake then. It was obvious that Optimus could tell how he felt as well.

"You're no good in the field if you _can't_ control your anger. So I want you to stay here at the base. Hot Shot has been _more_ than a handful lately. Besides, don't give up on Starscream just yet. There's no doubt he's a hardened Decepticon, but he's still a Transformer. He still could come around. And I'm hoping that all Transformers will make peace with each _other_ someday."

'_Optimus. You are ever the dreamer of peace._' Jetfire thought.

"Well, let's see if you can convince _Megatron_…"

Jetfire turned to the monitor that still showed the moon. From Earth the moon was beautiful, and he would've thought so too if it weren't for the fact that he knew what was up there. Maybe it was a good thing that almost all of the human population on the planet didn't know that the Decepticons lurked on Earth's natural satellite; if they did then they would panic and run around like headless chickens. Heh, chickens. Birds that couldn't even fly despite having wings.

_Fly._

_Wings._

_Valerie._

His beautiful Skydancer and sparkmate. Jetfire could remember when he took her flying that day when she was depressed and it had filled his spark with happiness and joy upon seeing how much she enjoyed the experience. How she had looked around the sky and at the ground that had been far below them in awe like a newborn sparkling seeing the world for the first time. He had a feeling that if she had been born a Cybertronian, she would most likely have been a flyer like himself. She had always wanted to be able to fly.

"Jetfire." Optimus said, causing the shuttle mech to turn to him. "How are things between you and Valerie?"

"Oh. They're fine, sir. She's gotten better over the last two weeks while recovering from that incident." He sighed quietly. "Personally I'm just glad that she didn't die that day. I've been doing my best to look after her as well."

"As I have observed this past week. And you've done a good job of that. Humans are more fragile than we are, but I'm aware that you've taken extra care when handling her."

"I know. But how come you're asking me this when you know the answer?"

Jetfire watched as Optimus' gold optics softened as he gazed at him. There was something about that look that made him feel…sorry for his leader, but why? Optimus sighed sadly as he looked away.

"I know you aren't aware of this, but I once had a sparkmate." Optimus started, sounding sad.

"You had a sparkmate?" Jetfire was surprised.

"Yes. Her name was Elita-1. This was a few thousand years before you joined the Autobot ranks as a new recruit. We had gotten into an argument over the fact that she wanted to have a sparkling. She had wanted to have a family, but I told her that we couldn't have a sparkling yet due to the war and the fact that when a femme is with sparkling, she becomes more vulnerable. I didn't want to risk bringing our offspring into a chaos-filled world or losing them." Optimus turned to look back at Jetfire. "As a leader herself, she lead a squad of femmes off Cybertron to find other allies to help in the war. The last time I saw her was when she was sending out a transmission. I can still remember the panicked look on her face before the transmission cut off. I haven't seen her since."

"Optimus…" Jetfire felt sorry for his friend. "So that's why you…"

"Yes." Optimus nodded. "I didn't want you to repeat the mistake I made all those years ago. Looking back on it now, I realize how foolish it was of me to say no to her. I knew she wanted to have a sparkling, but I was more worried about the wellbeing of her and the possibility of the sparkling's as well to even do so. I don't know if she's still alive somewhere in the universe, but I can't lose hope on the small chance that she could be alive. I haven't felt any indication that she could've been offlined from our connection, so that's why I believe that she could be out there."

"I'm…sorry for the way I acted two weeks ago in your office, sir. I realize now that you were only trying to help, but I ended up being a total aft about it."

"I'm glad you realized your mistake." Optimus looked a little more happier now than he did when he started talking about Elita-1. "You're dismissed for the night, Jetfire. I know you'll want to spend some time with Valerie."

At this Jetfire's gold optics widened in surprise.

"How'd you know…?"

"I used to have a sparkmate of my own, remember?" Optimus sounded amused. "It's normal and very common for sparkmates to be able to see each other in their dreams while in recharge."

Jetfire couldn't help but smile behind his face mask before letting out a quiet chuckle.

"Fine, Optimus. I'll get that rest so that Valerie won't have to worry about me tomorrow."

With that Jetfire walked out of the command center and headed for his quarters to sleep. Upon entering his quarters he sat down on his berth before removing his gold face mask to show his face. Privacy like this was one of those times he wouldn't have to worry about others seeing what he looked like behind his face mask and he took comfort in that. He sighed. Jetfire was aware that Valerie had wanted to see his face-he wanted to show her-but he couldn't yet. He'd worn it for so long that he was somewhat worried about what she would think if she did see what he looked like; he planned to show her someday after they were bonded. What would she think when she finally got to see his face? Honestly it didn't look any different than the shape of his holoform's face, but she didn't know that. For all she knew he could've looked very different than his holoform. But why would it even matter? Valerie loved him for who he really was, loved him for being himself despite everything.

He smiled before turning off the lights, laying down on his berth and deactivating his optics so he could recharge.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I sat on my bed as I gazed out my window at the moon glowing in the dark night sky littered with stars. I sighed before turning away from the window, only to spot the vase that held a bouquet of beautiful red roses. I could faintly smell their scent in the air and smiled. Those were the same roses that Jetfire had given me after my performance, along with being the first time I saw his holoform. That was also the same day I learned that I was his sparkmate. Ever since I got them I've been doing my best to take care of the flowers.

Speaking of Jetfire, I remembered that he would be busy tonight so I wouldn't be able to see him in my dreams tonight. I could understand that it was important (especially when the Decepticons had the Star Saber, the Skyboom Shield, and the Requiem Blaster in their possession), but I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Not too long ago I had felt his anger through our connection and had a feeling that it had to do with Starscream. Trying to calm him down did little to help whatever situation he had been in to make him feel that way.

My gaze wandered to the small TV in my room. Apparently a comet was going to appear tomorrow night. A sudden thought came into my mind. Had Jetfire ever seen comets in space before? I had a feeling he has, but then why was I asking myself that question? I yawned. I was starting to feel sleepy now so I decided it was probably time for bed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_I was slightly confused when I found myself in the black void. I only ended up here in my dreams if Jetfire or either one of his parents (or both of them) wanted to talk to me. I didn't think if was Jetfire since he was busy, so that left his parents to be the reason. But I didn't see them anywhere._

"_Astera? Silverbolt?" I called out. "Are you there?"_

_I didn't hear any reply. Nothing. This confused me. I was about to call out their names again when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around my shoulders before being pulled into the form behind me._

_**{I was wondering when you'd show up.} **__A familiar voice said jokingly._

_I gasped quietly, my eyes widening when I turned to find Jetfire behind me._

"_Jetfire! I thought you said you were going to be busy tonight."_

_**{Well I was, but then Optimus allowed me to retire for the night.} **__Jetfire sighed sadly, making me feel concerned. __**{Although I can't really say the same thing for tomorrow night.}**_

_This caused me to twist around in his hold so I could face him and my gaze softened when I saw the expression he had in his gold optics._

"_What's wrong?" I asked. "Did something happen?"_

_**{Not yet, but I know that the Decepticons are up to something. I can feel it. It's not like them to keep this quiet.} **__He told me. __**{Whatever it is they're up to, there's no doubt that it involves the three weapons.}**_

"_I felt your anger earlier. I know that you were angry about something, but I can never really tell why. You're always able to know what I feel and read my mind like an open book, but I can never tell what you're thinking. It's like you're always hiding and the only thing I have to go by are your emotions and what you willingly tell me."_

_I saw his optics soften from what I said. His hold tightened slightly around me._

_**{I can understand why you feel that way, and the reason why I'm able to feel your emotions or read your thoughts so easily is because you're young. Your mind is still growing, but you're also less experienced as well. When you're older you'll be able to hide your thoughts from me without as much difficulty as you do now. The only reason why I hide my thoughts from you is because I want you to have as much as a normal life as you possibly can without having to worry for me or the war. My thoughts could overwhelm you if you aren't prepared.}**_

"_But I am prepared!"_

_**{No you're not.} **__Jetfire told me, shaking his head. __**{Trust me when I say you're not ready. I don't want you to wind up having a mental breakdown. You'll be able to handle my thoughts when you're older. For now I'm only allowing you to feel my emotions or communicate with me.}**_

_I stared at him for a bit before sighing._

"_Fine. I understand that you want to protect me. But…I think there's another reason."_

_**{And what would that be?}**_

"_You have certain thoughts that you don't want me to know about." I stated._

_Jetfire's optics widened in surprise before he looked away from me, seeming embarrassed._

_**{Oh, **_**that**_**…} **__He said awkwardly. __**{That too…}**_

_Okay, maybe I shouldn't have brought that up since I was starting to feel awkward myself. Think, Valerie, think! There had to be something else to talk about to change the subject!_

"_You, uh, want to sit down?" I asked._

_**{As long as I can hold you, then yes.} **__Jetfire seemed relieved about the change of subject._

_We pulled away from each other before sitting down with Jetfire holding me as I sat in his lap. At least I've been getting used to doing this whenever I'm with him. I leaned back against his metal chest, feeling content._

"_There's going to be a comet showing up tomorrow night." I told him._

_**{A comet, huh? I'm guessing you're interested in seeing it?}**_

"_I am." I nodded. "I've never seen one before."_

_**{I wish I could take you to see it myself, but you know that I'm busy tomorrow.}**_

"_It's fine. It's the thought that counts." I sighed quietly before closing my eyes. It was quiet between us as we sat there. I felt at peace being around him, just having him by my side made me feel safe. I opened my eyes. "Jetfire?"_

_**{Hmm?} **__He hummed._

"_Have you ever seen a comet before?"_

_**{Course I have, Skydancer. Tons of times. There's nothing really special about them.}**_

"_I only know what I've learned in school or seen as a picture. They take so many years to travel to Earth that most people are lucky enough to see them once."_

_**{Well, at least you'll get your chance to see one. It'll be something you'll never forget.}**_

_I smiled before turning my head and placing the side of my face against the area that covered Jetfire's spark chamber. I could hear it humming quietly and found the sound to be soothing. It was almost like a heart beat as it would occasionally pulse subtly._

"_That's your spark I hear, right?" I asked._

_**{It is.} **__Jetfire answered. __**{It's just like your heart. It works the same way, beats the same way, and loves the same way. Even if we're both a different species, we're still the same in many ways.}**__ He sighed. __**{I'll always love you and my spark will continue to feel the same way.}**_

"_I will as well. I'll keep loving you."_

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_(The next day…)_

I couldn't help but feel confused as I watched Hot Shot and Sideswipe work of the Autobots' ship with my friends. If anything Hot Shot seemed to be _very _determined to finish it while Sideswipe seemed like he was getting tired, but it seemed like he wasn't allowed to stop for some reason. It was very confusing.

"What's up, Hot Shot? You leaving?" Carlos asked.

My eyes widened! They were leaving? Was that why they were working on the ship? If that was the case where were the other Autobots? Why weren't they working on the ship as well? Hot Shot turned to where we were and I could see the determined look set in his face.

"We have to, Carlos! There's no time to waste!" Hot Shot answered before walking off.

"Well, hey, why the big hurry? What's going on?"

Hot Shot knelt down to pick up another tool.

"We're taking back what was ours. It's time to make the Decepticons pay for what they did to us." He glanced at Carlos. "We've let them get away with too much." He looked over to where Sideswipe was. "Hey! Sideswipe, let's get it in gear!"

"Aw, c'mon, bro!" Sideswipe complained. "_Can't_ we take a break?"

"There's no time." Hot Shot told him.

"Ah, let's let them do their work." Rad said, causing Carlos to look at him. "We'll only get in the _way_, guys. Besides, it's time to _forget_ about Starscream and start thinking about the future."

I looked over at Alexis to see the shocked look on her face when Rad mentioned Starscream and forgetting about him.

"Yeah, all that talk about Starscream just makes me mad." Carlos said. "Let's not mention his name _anymore_."

Alexis suddenly looked sad because of this and I knew what she was going through. This wasn't something that she wanted to hear and the fact that Starscream was her sparkmate didn't make things any better. What was worse was that the boys had no idea how this was affecting her. I was the only one that understood.

"Who were _we_ talking about? Ooh yeah, I've _already_ forgot!" Billy said in a very snide way.

"Yeah! That's the way Billy!" Carlos cheered.

Poor Alexis. Too bad that Rad finally noticed that she was sad.

"Hey! Why don't we go check out that comet? It's almost _here_!" Fred suggested.

That's right. The comet was going to appear in just a few hours.

"You wanna go see the _comet_, Fred?" Billy asked.

"Yeah, sure. It's _way_ better than going to school, isn't it?"

"Let's go to the point and check it out! _C'mon_!" Carlos said excitedly.

With that Carlos, Billy, and Fred ran off. I followed after them, but I decided to hide in the doorway to watch the exchange between Alexis and Rad.

"Hey, Alexis, about Starscream…" Rad started. "I didn't mean to say that -"

"Look, it's okay. Don't sweat it." Alexis said, trying her best to keep her composure.

Alexis started making her way to the doorway and I noticed the concerned look on his face as he watched her leave. It was then that she noticed I was in the doorway and her gaze softened.

"You saw that just now, didn't you?" She asked quietly.

I nodded.

"It's going to be okay, Alexis. You know I'm here for you if you ever need to talk about it." I told her quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I know. I can count on you to help me understand what's going on now."

"Just remember that you don't need to hesitate when asking me a question."

We both started walking down the hallway just as Alexis giggled.

"Don't hesitate, huh?" Her voice was quiet as she said this. "Okay, so what's it like kissing Jetfire? Is he a good kisser?"

My face suddenly heated up from what she said as I whipped around to face her.

"Alexis!"

She merely giggled at my expense, but I managed to settle down seeing that I helped cheer my friend up. I smiled despite the heat I felt in my cheeks.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Looking at the monitor Starscream could see a comet flying close to Earth. There was no doubt that Thrust noticed this due to what he said next.

"M-Megatron-sir! I've found the ideal target for the test firing of the Hydra Cannon!" Thrust exclaimed.

"Perfect. Let's blast that comet." Megatron said.

Thrust turned to Megatron, his pink optics having a sort of excited look to them. Starscream had a feeling that if he could see the coneheaded Decepticon's face he would be grinning.

"Throughout human history, they believed that a comet was a sign of _bad_ luck. But _good_ luck for us when we _blow_ it to pieces!"

"Well, it had better be." Megatron turned to Demolishor who stood near the controls. "Demolishor, head for that comet."

"'Sir. Right away, sir." Demolishor replied.

Starscream could barely feel the ship move as it turned around to head closer to the comet. Hmm… It would seem that the rest of the Decepticons had done a good job repairing their ship after all.

"Starscream!" Megatron called.

"Sir?" Starscream asked, turning to his leader. What was is that he could possibly want?

"I'm going to give you honor of taking the first shot with the Hydra Cannon."

"Uh, the first shot, sir?"

"Yes, you played a big part in putting the Hydra Cannon together."

This came as a surprised to Starscream. Normally he would've been thrilled at the idea of having an opportunity such as this, especially when it came to Megatron actually recognizing his skills as a Decepticon soldier. But now…he wasn't so sure anymore. This was something that he had wanted for thousands of years since he first became a part of this war, something he yearned for since the beginning. He had finally reached this point in his life, yet he didn't feel satisfied. In all honesty, he didn't want to be the one to fire the Hydra Cannon.

"Thank you, but I think you should be the one to take the first shot." Starscream said.

"You will fire the first shot!" Megatron commanded. "Starscream... You will do as you are told."

Thrust turned to see what was going on and…did his optics just narrow as he glared at Starscream?

"Eehhhh…" Starscream slouched over slightly in defeat. He wasn't going to win this one, that's for sure. "Of course I will."

Starscream knew that the ship was preparing the Hydra Cannon so that it could be ready to fire on the comet.

"Starscream... Prepare to fire." Megatron ordered.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I stood outside with my friends as we all looked up at the darkening sky. We all searched to find the comet, but so far we haven't seen it yet.

"Is that it up there?" Carlos asked as he spotted something. What he ended up spotting was a satellite that occasionally glowed as it moved through space.

"Nah. _That's_ it. Right there!" Fred answered, pointing to where the comet was in the sky.

We looked in the direction Fred was pointing in and sure enough there was the comet, having a tail of white light as it flew by. It was so beautiful. To think Jetfire had basically seen these all his life.

"Whoa, that's _cool_! It's the comet!" Billy said.

"That thing is really moving! Man, that's _wild_!" Carlos said excitedly.

"No _kiddin'_." Fred agreed.

"I'm definitely going to remember this for the rest of my life." I said, smiling.

"Hey you guys, I'm sure we'll be able to see it better once the sun goes down." Rad stated.

I turned to Alexis and my smile disappeared when I saw the expression on her face as she turned to Rad. She was still depressed.

"I think I'm gonna go home now." Alexis said before walking off.

Rad noticed that Alexis was leaving and tried to follow her.

"Uh, hey, wait up."

I watched the whole thing from where I stood. Rad didn't understand what Alexis was going through, but he was trying to cheer her up. I knew that he had had a crush on her, but I knew it wouldn't work out.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The monitor showed the Hydra Cannon was now locked on to the comet. And that only meant one thing.

"Fire away!" Megatron ordered.

"Yessir!" Starscream replied. As soon as the button was revealed his finger hovered over it hesitantly. He had to do it. He had to press it or suffer for his disobedience. "Here we go."

With that, Starscream pressed the button.

"Mmmmm…" Megatron hummed.

As they watched anxiously before the Hydra Cannon suddenly fired. The power of the blast caused the Decepticon ship to shake.

"Huh? We need full power on the rear engine or we're going to be blown back by the recoil!" Thrust yelled.

"Okay!" Demolishor yelled.

The blast continued to travel through space until it impacted the comet. The result of the blast caused a bright white light to appear. Starscream could do nothing but stare in awe.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Rad managed to catch up with Alexis and placed his hand on her shoulder. This caused her to turn to him confused.

"Hmm?" She hummed questioningly.

"Alexis…" Rad started. "Don't go home, 'kay?"

"Whoa! What the heck's going _on_ up there?" Billy cried.

I turned away from looking at Rad and Alexis when a bright white light appeared in the sky.

"Hey, the comet is getting brighter and _brighter_!" Carlos exclaimed.

"I don't like the _looks_ of this." Fred said.

It was like the whole sky was being bathed in the bright light where the comet should've been. I knew for a fact that this wasn't normal at all.

"What's going on up there?" Alexis asked.

"The comet blew _up_." Rad said in awe.

This caused Alexis and everyone else to turn to him in shock.

"It couldn't have." I said. "Comets don't just blow up."

"Is that even possible?" Alexis eyes widened when she gasped, as if realizing something, before turning to look up at the sky. "No way!"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire and Hot Shot both came into the command center as the alarm blared loudly through the air.

"Optimus!" Jetfire called.

"Are we under attack?" Hot Shot asked.

"No, the comet has exploded, Hot Shot." Optimus answered, turning to the yellow mech.

"It _exploded_?"

"And I detected an enormous energy wave coming from the moon."

Optimus turn back to the monitor in front of them and Jetfire did the same, only to see the bright white light that had shown up where the comet should've been.

"That is _totally_ bizarre." Jetfire mused. How could a comet just _explode _like that? There had to be an perfectly good explanation to this.

"All right!" Sideswipe said, causing Jetfire to look over at him just as the younger mech turned to face all of them. "I've locked into the source of the energy wave, Optimus. Watch the monitor."

And they did, but what they saw only filled their sparks with dread just as the monitor zoomed in on the object that was near the moon.

"What? It's a ship!" Hot Shot exclaimed.

"It's the _Decepticons_!" Jetfire stated.

"_Megatron_!" Optimus said grimly.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Sideways stood on the surface of the moon as he witness the destruction of the comet caused by the Hydra Cannon. The bright light caused by the impact was beautiful, a beauty that could only be achieved from chaos and destruction. He grinned behind his face mask. Yes! This was what he had been waiting for since the beginning. And now he was another step closer to his ultimate goal.

"Heh, heh, heh... Hehehehaha!" He chuckled darkly. "Soon, Sweet Valerie. You're time will come for you to take your spot on center stage and perform your solo for all to see. And for the Chaos Bringer."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Look! The comet has disappeared!" Starscream exclaimed. He couldn't believe his optics! The comet was gone! Completely destroyed!

"The Hydra Cannon _works_. It actually _works_!" Thrust said, sounding excited.

"Hahahaha! Congratulations, Thrust. It appears your _calculations_ were correct." Megatron praised, seeming to be very amused.

Thrust turned to face Megatron.

"Megatron, with the Hydra Cannon, we have no _need_ for the other Mini-Cons. Let's return to Cybertron and _conquer_ the planet!"

"First there's some unfinished business." Megatron suddenly turned to him. "Starscream, I want you to target the Autobot base."

Starscream turned around to face Megatron, doing his best to hide his shock.

"Hmm? The _Autobots_' base?" Starscream asked. "But if we do that, the Earth will be blown to bits as well!"

"So what? This is a perfect opportunity to finally destroy the Autobots. I order you to point the Hydra Cannon at their base."

"But that won't be _possible_ from here." Thrust stated, causing Megatron to turn to him. "The Autobots' base is now on the _other_ side of the planet."

"_What_?"

"Although, if we were to move into range and punch in the proper co-ordinates, the Hydra Cannon _will_ make quick work of the Autobots!"

"Ha! You don't _know _how clever Optimus Prime is. I'm sure he'll see us coming and make his escape. I _know_ the way he thinks." Megatron then narrowed his optics at Thrust. "But we won't give him that chance. We attack when he's still unaware of us. And if we have to destroy the planet, then _so_ be it."

"_Excellent_ idea, sir. Forgive me for even thinking of questioning you." Thrust said, bowing his head. "You are a truly _brilliant _strategist. Heh. Very well. We will move the ship into position and fire _directly_ at the Earth and destroy the Autobots' base."

Starscream watched the exchange with mixed feelings and conflicting thoughts.

"Starscream!" Megatron called, causing Starscream to turn to him. "I'm solely counting on you. Set the sight of the Hydra Cannon for our _new_ target... Planet Earth. Hahahaha!"

Starscream growled quietly before bowing his head slightly. This…wasn't how he wanted things to go. This wasn't how he wanted it to end. So many conflicting thoughts swarmed his processor that it was almost overwhelming. After seeing what the Hydra Cannon was capable of doing to just a comet he knew that the results of the weapon's power would be catastrophic if and when it was fired on Earth.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

On the monitor Jetfire could see that the ship was moving.

"Their ship is starting to move." Sideswipe started before turning to Optimus. "_And_ it's coming towards the planet!"

"What?" Optimus asked, completely shocked.

"Ah, no way!" Hot Shot exclaimed, just as shocked as everyone else in the room. "We are _done_ for!"

Jetfire's gold optics widened, fear settling into his spark as he realized what this meant.

'_No…!_' He thought fearfully. '_Valerie…! Not now! Not when I finally found my sparkmate!_'

There was no doubt about it. The Decepticons were going to try to destroy the Autobots along with Earth. Everyone on this planet was going to be in danger. His sparkmate was going to be in danger if he and the others didn't so something to stop them! Valerie still had a future to look forward to, their future together! He was going to do whatever it took to protect her from dying, do for her what he failed to do for his mother. If it ever came down to it he'd give up his own life just to make sure she was safe.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Starscream continued to stare out the window of the command center as the Decepticon ship approached Earth. Earth…the blue and green planet below. He was so conflicted right now that it confused him.

'_I know Megatron wants to get the Autobots. Why does he have to destroy the whole planet?_' Starscream thought as flashbacks of all the Autobots and humans he had fought alongside with appeared before him. But the one that really stood out the most was _her_: Alexis…his sparkmate. Even though his engagement connection with her hadn't had enough time to develop properly he wanted desperately to know what she was thinking, how she was feeling at this moment. But he couldn't. '_I can't let this happen. There are too many innocent people down there. My friends are down there. But if I refuse, Megatron will surely cut me down. We're almost in position. I don't have much time. What should I do? What should I _do?'

* * *

ATE: That's it for now everyone! We can all see how Starscream feels about what he has to do next and other stuff that has happened in this chapter. And what's this? Sideways mentioning the Chaos Bringer? Ooh, we all know what that means! For all those who have seen Transformers Armada, you should all know what gonna happen in the next chapter.

Please remember to review! ;D


	16. Crisis

ATE: I'm so glad that I finally got this done when I did. I even stayed up until almost 3 in the morning where I'm at just to finish writing this chapter. I'd like to thank **Crystalmaiden62**,** Azura Soul Reaver**,** Sailor Shinzo**,** SeekerLuna**,** Bumblebeecamaro38**,** DarkButterfly128**,** Diamond White**, and **Sally **for their reviews of the last chapter. This chapter will cover the events of episode 39 (Crisis) from Transformers Armada. So for those who have seen this episode, you know what's coming.

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OC Valerie.

* * *

Chapter 16: Crisis

I just stood there with my friends as we all stared up at the sky. This was so unbelievable! After the comet had exploded the sky had turned green and orange. The sky…I didn't like the way it looked. It made me feel like something bad was about to happen.

"What do you think, Alexis?" Rad asked.

"No clue." Alexis answered.

"I'll bet you _anything_ it was Megatron who was behind that comet exploding."

"You think he had something to do with this?" I asked.

Alexis sighed quietly.

"Well duh, a comet just doesn't explode by itself in mid-air." Carlos stated.

"You wait." Alexis said, causing all of us to look at her. "I'll bet we haven't seen the last of the Decepticons' handy work by a _long_ shot."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Billy agreed. "We're talking Megatron here. I've got a feeling this is only the start of his fireworks."

"So, what do you think he's doing?" Fred asked as he turned to Carlos.

"I wish I knew." Carlos replied as he looked over his shoulder at Fred. Suddenly he turned around seeming completely excited. "Hey! Hang on, guys! I betcha it's something even _bigger_!" Then he seemed confused. "But, exactly what, I don't know."

"Hey! What if he's planning on blowing up the Earth?"

My eyes widened at this. Megatron would blow up the Earth? I felt myself starting to shake slightly from this. We all turned to Rad.

"Well, whatddya think, Rad?" Carlos grabbed his head in frustration. "Awww, man! That's gotta be it! Megatron's gonna blow up Earth and everyone _on_ it!"

"What if Fred is right? Do we tell anybody?" Billy asked. "And if we did, do you really think anybody would _believe_ us?"

"We _make _them believe us, Billy, because if we don't, we're _toast_!" Fred said while looking at his friend.

"Not an option." We turned to Alexis and I couldn't help feeling slightly confused when I saw the sad look on her face. "We promised the Autobots we'd never tell. And a promise is a promise, guys. And besides, they'd just be taken into laboratories and taken apart for science experiments. I'd _never_ let that happen to my friends." Alexis turned to look away from us. "And I hope you guys feel the same way I do."

I suddenly felt sad as well when I realized what Alexis was saying. I couldn't help the mental image that came into my mind of Jetfire and the rest of the Autobots being taken apart by scientist, the way their faces or optics expressed their anguish as they cried out in pain. I cringed, shutting my eyes tightly as I tried desperately to forget that mental image, but…it wasn't going away any time soon. I suddenly felt comfort flood through my mind as I felt myself slowly start to relax.

"She's right." Carlos said, glancing up at the sky. "We keep this a secret, right?"

"Yeah, I guess I have to agree." Fred said.

"Yeah, but what if Optimus has to battle in front of a _crowd _or something?" Billy asked.

"I _really_ think he's a lot smarter than that. And I'm sure he can handle himself out there. You know, he's been around for a long time." Rad told us. "But here's my plan, we stay out of their way and let them take care of their own battles. I'm sure that's what Optimus would want."

"All right, I'm with you all the way, Rad!"

"But Rad, we can't stay around and not say anything while the whole stinkin' planet blows up into smithereens." Carlos complained.

"Hmm." Rad looked away humming before turning back to face us with a sympathetic look. "There's nothing we can do, Carlos. We're just gonna have to wait and see."

"No! We have to _do_ something!"

I turned away to look up at the green and orange sky, holding a hand over my heart as I did so. I knew that my sparkmate was up there since I could faintly feel him through our connection.

'_Jetfire…_' I thought. '_Please be careful._'

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Up in space was Jetfire in his shuttle form. He smiled inwardly when he had heard his sparkmate and sent her comfort and reassure through the connection.

'_Don't worry, Skydancer. I will._' He told her.

As he continued to fly towards the moon he ended up spotting something.

"What's _that_?" Jetfire thought out loud. He grinned when he spotted a space ship. "Ah! There it is." He then turned on his comm link "This is Jetfire. I've found the Decepticon ship."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

On the Decepticon ship everyone could see the familiar space shuttle flying towards them.

"Megatron! I've locked onto Jetfire!" Demolishor told his leader.

"Ignore him, Demolishor." Megatron said casually. He grinned in amusement. "He is but a harmless bug that I can squash at any time I please."

"Yes, we must remain focused on aligning ourselves with the Autobots' base to make a direct hit." Thrust added.

"Do as the Squidhead says, men."

"_Squidhead?_!" Thrust turned to face Megatron, his pink optics wide in shock. "Even you, Megatron?"

"Hahahahahahaha!" It didn't help that Cyclonus started to laugh insanely, making Thrust angry.

"Stop laughing, this is serious!" Thrust clenched his servos into fists. "Don't you realize that once the Hydra Cannon is fired, it takes its time to recharge. That means that while we are waiting, we are sitting ducks!"

"There is no need to get yourself all worked up, Thrust." Megatron stated.

"Well, no one seems to listen to _me_." Thrust muttered.

"You must excuse my men's conduct. They're just a little giddy over the prospect of returning home to Cybertron over the next few days. And we must keep up the morale of the men, Thrust. I'm a little giddy myself, Squidhead."

"My name is _THRUST_!" He yelled. "T-H-R-U-S-T, is that so difficult to remember_?_!"

"What's that? You don't enjoy my Earthly humor?" Megatron's frowned. "Buck up, soldier, or you'll be looking at a demotion."

"I understand, sir." Thrust bowed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire continued flying towards the Decepticons' ship slowly. He found it strange that they hadn't done anything yet.

"I'm sure the Decepticons have a lock on my position, but for some reason, they're just _ignoring_ me. Or maybe they're a whole lot _dumber_ than I thought." Jetfire then activated his boosters. "I'm GOING in!"

Jetfire used the power of his boosters to charge at the ship ahead of them. This was going to be easy! He'd be in and out in no time at all. But what happened next wasn't something he expected at all.

"Yargh!" Jetfire yelled when he suddenly got shocked by a strong current of electricity. He had to fly away. "Transform!" Jetfire transformed and could see why he had been shocked. So it would seem that the Decepticon ship was surrounded by a force field. He had to activate his boosters in order to slow himself down. "Ugh. Sure wasn't expecting _that_."

"_**Jetfire! What's going on?**_" Optimus asked over the comm link.

"Oh, nothin'. Except touching a six thousand gigawatt _force field_." Jetfire joked.

"_**Man, he almost gets his circuits fried and he's making **_**jokes**." He heard Hot Shot say on the other end.

"I'm gonna give it another shot." Jetfire pulled out his blaster from subspace. "Just hope this time, it won't melt my entire _mainframe_." He aimed his blaster at ship, holding his legs out as he prepared for the recoil from his weapon. He shoots his blaster, but the blast reflects back at him and sends him. "Yaaahh!" He fired his blaster at the ship, but then the blast was reflected back at him, on pushed him away from the ship itself.

"_**Are you all right, Jetfire?**_" Optimus asked.

"_Yeah_... But it looks like they've got a force field around their whole ship." Jetfire told him. "I dunno if I can penetrate it. I'll give it a _shot_!"

"_**Return to base, Jetfire. Do you copy?**_"

"Roger that. I'm on my way. Transform!"

Jetfire transformed back into his shuttle form before flying back to the base. He knew Valerie was going to be worried about him now.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The Decepticons had witnessed the Autobot's Vice Commander fly away, possibly because Optimus ordered him to.

"Ha, ha." Megatron laughed. "Don't you just love watching those miserable mechanical morons attempting to attack me, Squidhead?"

"I wish he wouldn't call me that anymore!" Thrust complained quietly to himself. "How'd he like to be called 'Flathead'? Heh, hehehehe!" He had to hold a servo over his face mask to contain his laughter.

"So why don't you share your little joke with everyone?"

"Heh, heh…" Thrust had to stop laughing before turning to face Megatron. "I wasn't, uh, laughing, sir!" He turned back around and lowered his voice. "Flathead! Boy, I can really dish it out! Hehehehe, hahaha!"

"You... are a freak." Megatron said quietly.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

From where my friends and I stood in the doorway of the command center we watched as the Autobots watched the footage from when Jetfire had been in space.

"Right there." Red Alert stated, showing everyone the footage of when Jetfire hit the force field that was around the Decepticon ship. "There's the point of contact, Optimus-sir."

"Interesting." Optimus said."

What's that _thing_ in the middle of the screen?" Hot Shot asked.

"It appears to be some kind of extreme weapon." Scavenger answered.

"It could be." Blurr said, turning to Scavenger. "I wonder if they're planning to attack Earth with it."

I couldn't help the dreadful feeling I had in the pit of my stomach from what Blurr said. The more I heard about it the more I believed that the Decepticons were really going to destroy Earth with it.

"What we always thought of as a children's story must be true." Optimus said. "When the three weapons are linked together, they form the ultimate weapon, the Hydra Cannon."

Hydra Cannon? Was that what the Decepticons used to destroy the comet? Was it possible that that was why they wanted the three weapons?

"Huh?" Hot Shot turned to Optimus. "You think that might be it?"

"My analysis reveals it is definitely some kind of weapon, sir." Red Alert said.

"Yeah, I'd say a Decepticon weapon of mass destruction." Hoist agreed.

"_I_ say we go up there and destroy that monstrosity before it destroys this entire _planet_, Optimus-sir." Sideswipe suggested.

"We must do something. But we _won't_ destroy it." Optimus told him.

"If that is the same weapon that destroyed the comet, then one shot would destroy a third of the Earth." Red Alert stated.

"But that's _insane_!" Hot Shot exclaimed, optics wide. "We can't let that happen to Earth!"

"Hey! We're dealing with an _insane_ dictator." Scavenger said, causing Hot Shot to turn to him.

"There's gotta be _something_ we can do!" Blurr said.

"If we destroy the weapon, we destroy the Mini-Cons. And our job is to _protect_ them, Blurr." Red Alert said.

"So what's your problem, Sideswipe?" Hoist asked, facing Sideswipe who I noticed was clenching his hands into fists as he trembled.

"Uh... I love this planet so much, Hoist. It's like my home away from home. I've met new friends here. They're like family to me." Sideswipe said, seeming a little emotional. "And I don't know how to say it, but we've gotta save this planet. We've just _gotta_!"

"I know what you mean, Sideswipe. And I think all of us here feel the same way as you do." Blurr told him, understanding how the younger Autobot felt.

I couldn't help but feel slightly touched that Sideswipe and Blurr felt that way about Earth and us, and I couldn't help but wonder if any of the others felt the same way.

"Hmmm." Optimus agreed, nodding his head. "But for now we'll wait until Jetfire gets back and fills us in."

"It's because of _him_! Because of Starscream." Hot Shot suddenly said. "We let him join us and he stabbed us in the back! He stole the Skyboom Shield that let the Decepticons build the Hydra Cannon. I _knew_ it was a mistake!" The yellow Autobot turned to Optimus, looking so angry as he started yelling. "Optimus! What were you _thinking_, huh_?_! You allowed him to join our ranks! _Why?_!" It was quiet as Optimus stared at Hot Shot before walking away to leave the command center. "Opti- sir!"

Hot Shot tried to go after Optimus, but Scavenger got in his way to stop him.

"That is enough, Hot Shot." Scavenger told him.

"Yeah. We're a team for _good_, not for evil." Hoist added.

"Yeah, that's right! I understand that we're all responsible. But _why_ did he have to let a Decepticon join us?" Hot Shot got on the ground on his knees. "_Why?_! _WHY?_! He then slammed his fist in the ground, causing it to dent the mental floor. "Errgh! What reason did Starscream have to _deceive_ us all? What did we ever do to him to deserve _this_? I will _destroy_ him! He will PAY!"

"Don't worry, Hot Shot." Blurr told him calmly. "Starscream will get what he deserves."

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Hot Shot after seeing the whole thing with my friends.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire eventually arrived at the coordinates that the warp gate would appear and as luck would have it he came just in time as it opened before him. He could make out Optimus standing in the launching dock as he flew in, moving to the side to allow the shuttle mech to land.

"Transform." Jetfire said before transforming into his bi-pedal mode and standing up to face Optimus. "No doubt about it. They're planning to hit our base, sir." Jetfire saluted.

"Good work." Optimus praised.

"Thank you, sir." Jetfire lowered his servo so that it hung at his side.

"I just have one question, Jetfire. Why didn't they fire on _you_? I'm sure they had you locked on their radar."

"I had the _same_ thought, sir. But maybe they thought the shield barrier was enough." Jetfire thought back on the whole thing as well. "I guess our _real_ dilemma is breaking through that barrier and getting to Megatron. But we have to do that before they fire that weapon."

Jetfire noticed the sound of the door hissing open and his optics saw that everyone (including the kids) had entered the launching dock. He felt his spark swell with happiness when he spotted Valerie, but then there was a slight sinking feeling when he saw the expression on her face. He didn't have to hear her thoughts to know that she was aware of the situation at hand. Jetfire hadn't wanted her to know about it-he would've kept it a secret from her if he could-but she knew that the Earth was in danger. He could see the fear and dread in Valerie's eyes, something he didn't like to see her express.

"We, uh, just thought we'd welcome ya back, Jetfire." Carlos said sheepishly, both hands in his pockets.

"I've got a quick question about the Cybertron ship." Billy said, raising his right hand in the air.

"Yeah!" Fred added. "We were wondering if we could go after the Decepticons in it!"

"I'm really sorry to disappoint you boys, but the ship isn't _quite _finished yet." Red Alert told them as the three boys looked up at him.

"Aw, that bites." Carlos, Billy, and Fred said at the same time with disappointed looks.

"Hot Shot, listen to me." Optimus said, turning to the yellow mech. "I know you might not believe this, but having Starscream join the Autobots was _not_ a complete failure. I realize what I'm saying at this point in time may not make sense. However, I _know_ things will work out. I hope you can understand that."

"So what are you gonna do about it_!_? Optimus-sir_?_!" Hot Shot asked.

"Yeah! I mean, how are we gonna get revenge when we can't even get _near_ them?" Carlos asked.

"Don't worry. I have a plan." Optimus said.

Optimus turned to look at Jetfire and he got the message.

"All right." Jetfire said, holding his right servos up with his thumb sticking out.

"This could be the final battle, so I want to ensure that it does _not_ involve any humans. And trust me everyone, the Decepticons won't know what hit them. When the time comes, you'll all be briefed."

"We're with ya, Optimus."

"Hey, you're forgetting about me!" Hot Shot complained.

"You stay put, Hot Shot. Optimus and I have a little _party_ to attend to." Jetfire told the yellow mech.

"No fair. I'm as much a part of this battle as you."

Jetfire placed his servos on his hips before leaning towards Hot Shot.

"But can you Powerlink with any other Autobot like Optimus and me?" Jetfire couldn't help but smirk when Hot Shot didn't say anything. His silence told him everything. "_Iiii_ didn't think so."

"Come on, you guys!"

"You stay put _here_ and _watch_ the base."

Jetfire turned around to face the warp gate as he and Optimus walked over to it.

"Hey, there's no _way_ you're taking off without me!" Hot Shot yelled. "I'm going on this mission and that's that!"

Jetfire could hear Hot Shot's footsteps as he came up to them from behind.

"Hot Shot." Optimus said.

From out of the corner of his optic Jetfire could see Optimus opening his chest compartment and pulling something out. He turned around and his optics widened in surprise when he realized what it was.

The Matrix of Leadership!

"Huh_?_!" Hot Shot said as Optimus turned to him while holding the Matrix. "What's that?"

"It's a gift from the original Transformers. It's called the Matrix. It stores all the data from previous commanders who have served." Optimus explained. "I want _you_ to hold onto it for me."

Hot Shot sighed before turning away.

"I can't…" Hot Shot said, turning his back to face them both. "I can't accept that from you, Optimus."

"I understand. It's your choice, Hot Shot." Optimus placed the Matrix back in his chest compartment, gently closing it shut. He then turned to face him. "Let's go, Jetfire."

"I'm _right_ behind ya, Optimus!" Jetfire said, grinning behind his face mask.

"Good luck!" He heard all the Autobots say.

Jetfire could feel Valerie's emotions through their connection and he couldn't help but be reminded of the look he saw in her eyes. She was scared for both him and Optimus, yet she was sad that she had to watch him leave again. She had hoped to spend some time with him before this happened, but with the Decepticons threatening to destroy the planet she stood on he had no choice but to go and stop them. And she knew this.

'_I have to do this, Skydancer._' Jetfire told her softly, trying to comfort her through their connection. He could feel her desperately clinging to him as if he was her lifeline. '_You know I'd do anything to keep you safe from any kind of harm._'

_**{…I know.} **_She replied. _**{It's just…! Please come back safely! I know you always tell me that you'll be careful but-}**_

'_Just have faith in me. You know I've always come back to you, injured or not. This time won't be any different than all the others._' Jetfire hugged her mentally, letting her know that he understood. '_I'll be back soon and I'll be able to hold you for as long as you need me to._ _So until then be strong for me._'

With that both Jetfire and Optimus went through the warp gate, leaving everyone behind.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

From where he stood Starscream stared at the image of the Earth, the very planet Megatron wished to destroy just to be rid of the Autobots for good.

'_And now, what am I gonna do?_' Starscream thought. '_What if I'm the one chosen to destroy planet Earth?_'

"Is there anything the matter, Starscream?" Megatron asked.

"Huh?" Starscream looked over his shoulder at Megatron, who still sat upon his throne.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to have reservations about the destruction of Earth. So I ask you, would you be willing to pull the trigger on the Hydra Cannon? You have betrayed my trust on more than one occasion, Starscream. But you always seem to return to the Decepticon fold when it really mattered. So, can I trust you this time? Well, Starscream?"

"Huh_?_!"

"I will ask you again!" Megatron yelled. "Are you willing to pull the trigger and destroy all of planet Earth_?_!"

"Starscream! Please, you must agree to be the triggerman or you'll never earn back Megatron's trust!" Thrust whispered to him. Starscream growled quietly at this. "He'll destroy you if you don't agree with him!"

"Target is locked on! And we're now within range." Demolishor suddenly said. Starscream looked up, and just as Demolishor had said they were locked on to Earth. His time was running out and fast. Demolishor looked at Megatron over his shoulder. "Hydra Cannon locked and loaded, sir!"

"Oh goodie! That means we're going home to Cybertron! Ohohoh, I can hardly wait to get outta here!" Cyclonus said excitedly from where he was.

"Energy level nearing optimum. Disengage electro-shield." Thrust ordered.

"Shield disengaged." Wheeljack said.

"Ha, ha, ha. Victory is at hand. Starscream, prepare to fire the Hydra Cannon!" Megatron ordered.

Starscream hesitated slightly as his finger hovered over the button that would fire the Hydra Cannon. He didn't want to do this, but he had no choice.

'_If you're even listening to me, Primus, please intervene somehow._' Starscream pleaded. He had never really believed in Primus before, but now, of all times, he found himself begging the Cybertronian deity.

"Sayonara, Optimus Prime! It looks like I win! Aah!"

The whole ship started shaking violently all of a sudden, taking them all by surprised. Starscream looked on the monitor and his optics widened when he saw who was on it.

"Aaah! Aah. It's Optimus!"

Starscream watched as Optimus was shooting at their ship. He couldn't believe it! Had Primus actually heard him? Starscream wasn't sure if he should be relieved or terrified that Optimus had come just when he was about to fire the Hydra Cannon.

"Nooooo!"

"He must have slipped through when we disengaged the electro-shield!" Thrust exclaimed. Optimus was still shooting at the ship and landed before heading off in the direction the Hydra Cannon was located. "Oh no! The Hydra Cannon!"

"Prime is destroying my plan! Annihilate him!" Megatron ordered.

"Yessir!" Cyclonus replied.

"Roger." Demolishor replied as well.

"Thrust, is the cannon ready to fire?" Megatron asked.

"Give me two minutes, sir." Thrust said as he bowed.

"Starscream, get out there and get rid of Optimus Prime before I get rid of you!" Megatron bellowed, his red optics glaring at him to obey. "Ugh! Prove your loyalty!"

"Yessir!" Starscream complied before leaving.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Despite being Powerlinked with Optimus, Jetfire could see Cyclonus and Demolishor coming out of the Decepticon ship.

"Hahahahaha! Whooohahaha! Let's party!" Cyclonus yelled insanely while he and Demolishor fired at them. Optimus was forced to block using his arms.

"Jetfire! Time to split up!" Optimus ordered.

And that was what they did. Both Optimus and Jetfire separated from each other since there really wouldn't be a need now they were on the Decepticon ship. Optimus landed on the ship while Jetfire stayed in the air.

"I'll cover your back and keep these clowns busy while you go in and recover the Star Saber and the Mini-Cons!" Jetfire told Optimus. As soon as his leader ran off he started flying at Demolishor with his blaster in his servo. "It's time to get _busy_!" He shot at Demolishor and he couldn't help but grin behind his face mask as the Decepticon slammed into the side of the ship. "One down."

"Hahahahaha!" Jetfire heard Cyclonus' insane laughter and without thinking twice he fired at him. "Oh no! Aaahh!"

"Urgh!" Suddenly Jetfire was under fire and was forced to use his arms to block the attack. His gold optics widened when he saw who was firing at him. "Wheeljack!" The last time Jetfire ever saw Wheeljack was before he went on that mission with Hot Shot back on Cybertron, so of course he was surprised to see him now fighting as a Decepticon. He then noticed something in his peripheral vision, his optics narrowing in angry at who he saw. "_Starscream_." He growled quietly.

Jetfire starting firing at Wheeljack who was taking cover behind a part of the ship. He landed as well to get a better vantage point, but his head shot in the direction he heard Optimus' cries of pain and saw that Tidal Wave was firing at him.

"Optimus!" Jetfire cried Wave ended up pinning Optimus down underneath him.

"Jetfire, don't turn your back on me! I'm your enemy!" He suddenly heard Starscream yelling at him.

"Huh?"

Jetfire turned around in time to see Starscream charging at him with his sword. As soon as he came close to him and was about to swing his weapon Jetfire managed to quickly grab Starscream's arm before flinging the Decepticon over his shoulder. The shuttle mech turned around to see that the traitor slammed into Tidal Wave. Suddenly the bigger Decepticon fell backwards and Starscream ended up being pinned underneath him.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"What are you doing, you idiot_?_!" Megatron yelled. On the monitor the Decepticon leader could see Optimus Prime getting up, causing him to grit his teeth in fury as he turned to his strategist. "THHHHRRRRRUUUUUSSSTTT!"

"It's almost ready, sir! I'm just boosting the energy level!" Thrust exclaimed.

Megatron stood up from his throne, knowing what he had to do.

"You fire the Hydra Cannon, Thrust, while I finish off Optimus."

With that Megatron left.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

From where Optimus stood he noticed that there was a part of the Decepticon ship that was sparking and an idea came to him.

"I could recharge off the Decepticons' electro-force field." He said out loud.

"No freeloading, Prime!"

Upon hearing the all too familiar voice Optimus turned around to see Megatron coming out of the ship.

"Megatron!" He narrowed his optics at the Decepticon leader. "Let's _do_ this!"

"Full Blast Mode!"

Megatron combined with his Mini-Con, Leader 1, and started firing at Optimus.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire had witness what was happening between Optimus and Megatron and he knew that he had to help.

"Hang on, Optimus!" Jetfire yelled.

Jetfire made to fly off to aid his leader, but suddenly something grabbed his legs and causing him to fall to the ground.

"You're all mine." He heard Demolishor say from behind him.

Jetfire turned around with his blaster aiming at the Decepticon. He was about to fire at him, only to be taken by surprise when his weapon was shot out of his servo.

"Why _you_!" Jetfire growled angrily, turning to whoever disarmed him and found Wheeljack laughing at him "You're _next_, Wheeljack."

Suddenly a shadow appeared over him and Jetfire looked up to see Cyclonus falling from above.

"It's _payback_ time! Heh, heh!" Cyclonus declared.

Before he knew it Jetfire found himself crying out in felt extreme pain when Cyclonus came slamming down on his back, and it didn't help that one of his feet hit the area close to where his left wing connected to his back He started struggling to get free of the Decepticons restraining him, but then Wheeljack took Demolishor's place in pinning down his legs, while the latter came up and pinned down his left arm. No matter how hard he struggled Jetfire was unable to get free and he was forced to watch Optimus continued to be fired upon by Megatron.

"Ye-he-he-he-essss... Here's a little trivia, Optimus. The Hydra Cannon was originally designed to destroy _you_!" Jetfire could hear Megatron say before he jumped in front of Optimus. "But I have chosen to destroy the Autobots' base on planet Earth first." Suddenly he grabbed Optimus' head with his servo and forced him to look at the Earth below. "Now, watch your moronic minions be blown into a _million pieces_. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"_Ooppttiimmuuss_!" Jetfire screamed as he watched his leader.

Jetfire started to struggle again, desperately this time and giving Demolishor, Cyclonus, and Wheeljack a hard time in keeping him restrained. So they had been right! The Decepticons were going to destroy the Earth after all!

"Thrust! Fire the cannon!"

Jetfire couldn't help the immense fear he suddenly felt knowing that the Hydra Cannon was so close to firing at the Earth. He felt so useless for not doing anything to stop Megatron despite the fact that he was still struggling desperately to get free at the moment. He failed!

'_VALERIE!_' He cried out.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end for him! He shouldn't be the one forced to watch as the Earth was destroyed before his very optics! He shouldn't be forced to have to feel the agonizing pain he knew his spark would feel when his sparkmate's life was extinguished! He couldn't help the memories that appeared in his processor, all of them being of Valerie and all the times he spent with her. All the happy ones, the sad ones, even the bad ones; he remembered them all. And he was going to lose her; the last thing that brought him happiness was going to be taken away from him because of the Decepticons! Through their connection he held onto her tightly, wanting to be able to feel her for the last time before Earth was destroyed. He knew it would only make the pain he was going to feel worse, but he wanted her to know just how much he truly loved her. Jetfire felt her holding onto him as well, only making this harder for himself.

'_I'm sorry, Valerie! I failed you! I wasn't able to protect you in the end like I was supposed to, like I promised to!_' He told her.

_**{You tried, Jetfire. I know you tried your best to protect me. You've always done your best to keep me safe.}**_ She told him, her voice sounding so strangely calm and loving despite what was going to happen soon._** {I can never thank you enough for all the times we shared together. They were the most happiest times for me to experience. I wish…it didn't have to end this way.}**_

Jetfire's optics widened in surprise as he realized what she was trying to tell him. No! Not again! This was just like before when his mother was offlined! How could his own sparkmate accept the fact that she was going to _die _soon_?_! Valerie had always been scared of dying, she had even told him once before. Yet at this moment he couldn't even feel her fear. Was this…all because he told her to be strong for him before he left?

'_Stop! Don't say it! Please don't say it!_'He begged, not wanting her to finish what she was going to say.

_**{Thank you for everything you've done for me. Even when I'm gone, I'll always love you, Jetfire. I'll never stop loving you.}**_

'_Valerie!_'

But then the most unexpected thing happened. Optimus suddenly started to glow with a golden light and managed to get free of Megatron's hold on him. He then started floating away and Jetfire's optics widened when he saw that he got in front of the Hydra Cannon just in time to block the blast from the weapon.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He could hear Optimus scream out in pain all the way from where he was.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I stood with everyone watching what was happening on the monitor in the command center. My eyes widened when I suddenly felt my heart clench as I felt desperation and fear flood my mind, along with the sense of failure.

_**{VALERIE!}**_

I gasped quietly upon hearing Jetfire's voice before feeling him holding onto me tightly through our connection. His emotions only seemed to intensify and I looked up at the monitor to see that the Hydra Cannon, weapon the Decepticons had used to blow up the comet, was preparing to fire at the Earth, making me realize _why _he felt the way he did. I felt tears start to form in my eyes as I realized this would be the last time I would feel Jetfire through our connection and I desperately held onto him as well, wanting him to know that I was going to stay with him until the end. It was only a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds before the end would come.

_**{I'm sorry, Valerie! I failed you! I wasn't able to protect you in the end like I was supposed to, like I promised you!} **_He told me, his voice filled with so much remorse.

I felt my throat tighten slightly from all the emotions I was feeling at the moment. I wanted so much as to actually be with him physically at the moment, but I wouldn't be able to.

'_You tried, Jetfire. I know you tried your best to protect me. You've always done your best to keep me safe._' A tear fell, and I noticed how painful this was for me. '_I can never thank you enough for all the times we shared together. They were the most happiest times for me to experience. I wish…it didn't have to end this way._'

_**{Stop! Don't say it! Please don't say it!}**_ He begged.

'_Thank you for everything you've done for me. Even when I'm gone, I'll always love you, Jetfire. I'll never stop loving you._'

_**{Valerie!}**_

"Oh no!" Rad exclaimed.

All the other Autobots all said something along the same lines as well. And I realized why as soon as I saw that something seemed to be blocking the blast from the Hydra Cannon.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire couldn't believe his optics! Optimus was risking his life to protect the Earth from being destroyed! And he wasn't the only one who felt the same way since all the other Decepticons were shocked as well. There was no way that Optimus wasn't in any sort of pain at the moment as he started pushing the beam back towards the ship. Even a bit of the Decepticon ship was starting to crumble apart under the pressure as well. As much as he felt relieved, Jetfire couldn't help but feel like he was dreaming.

This was just…_impossible_!

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"Man, take a look at _that_!" Rad said in complete awe.

"What happened to Optimus, you guys_?_!" Fred asked.

"Don't worry, Fred. He told us he had a plan, remember?" Carlos stated.

"I sure - hope you're all right." Alexis said quietly.

"Or else we're in big _trouble_!" Billy added.

"C'mon!" Hot Shot said quietly.

Everyone was feeling anxious and I could practically feel it in the air. But then a bright white light suddenly appeared, causing us to be unsure of what was going on. The bright light started to disappear, allowing us to see Optimus still standing

"Optimus!" Rad cheered.

"All right!" Alexis said.

"Oh yeah!" Carlos added.

"Hahahaha…" Billy laughed excitedly.

"Optimus Prime comes through again! Heh. I knew he would!" Fred said as he hugged Billy.

"He's okay." I said quietly, a small smile on my face.

"_Wait_ - just a minute!" Red Alert suddenly said.

"Now when Optimus and Jetfire Powerlink, there's nothing in the universe that could defeat them, right?" Hoist asked.

Wait! Optimus wasn't Powerlinked with Jetfire? I suddenly felt dread as I looked back at the screen, noticing for the first time that Optimus was completely white, as in coloration-wise. Then that meant-

My eyes widened and I gasped with everyone else when Optimus' body started to cracking before shattering into pieces! This…this wasn't happening!

"Nooooo!" Hot Shot cried out as he ran over to the monitor.

"Optimus!" We all yelled at once.

This…this wasn't happening! I couldn't believe this! I refuse to believe what I just saw, regardless of the evidence staring me in the face!

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"What the_?_!" Megatron exclaimed in complete shock after having witnessed Optimus Prime shattering into millions of pieces.

He couldn't believe it. His arch nemesis was…

"He's completely disintegrated into space dust. Opppttiimmuuuusss!" He yelling as if calling out Prime's name would bring him back.

This was not how he imagined things to end between himself and Optimus Prime.

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"NO! This can't be _happening_!" Jetfire was in complete shock as his widened gold optics stared at the spot Optimus had been.

Luckily Demolishor, Cyclonus, and Wheeljack were in too much shock to stop Jetfire from picking up his blaster and flying away from them, not sure if he should believe that the white space dust that he was seeing was really Optimus.

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Starscream struggled to move due to the pain he was still in from Tidal Wave crushing him. But when he looked up…

"Huh_?_!" Starscream was confused when he saw the familiar planet before him. "The Earth! It's still _there_!" Then that meant that everyone down there was alive. Even Alexis was alive.

"**OPPPTTTIMMMUUUSSSSSS**!" He suddenly heard Jetfire scream loudly.

'_But how could that be?_' Starscream thought.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Despite the fact that the Decepticons had left in their ship not so long ago Jetfire kept searching through the area, trying to find some trace-any trace-of Optimus. He noticed a faint golden glow and he instantly knew what it was.

"No…!" Jetfire said quietly before flying over to the object he had seen, only to find his leader's Mini-Con, Sparkplug. "Optimus…"

He gasped quietly, sadness showing in his gold optics when he saw what Sparkplug was holding.

"And all that's _left_…is your _Matrix_."

He was gone. Optimus Prime, his leader and friend, was really gone. His spark filled with sadness. Jetfire suddenly remembered that Optimus had tried to give the Matrix to Hot Shot before they left. He knew something like this was going to happen! That's why he wanted to give Hot Shot the Matrix of Leadership!

"I'll _never_ forget you, sir." Jetfire said, before throwing his head back to scream as loud as he could. "**NEEVVVVEEERRR**!"

And he wouldn't. In the moment that Jetfire had thought he was going to lose his sparkmate when the Hydra Cannon destroyed the Earth, Optimus had taken the greatest risk of all: he gave his very life to protect the planet that all the Autobots had come to consider as another home. He had saved so many lives just by sacrificing his own.

Optimus Prime…was a true friend and a true leader.

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I was in the launching dock alone, my hand placed over my heart as I waited for Jetfire to return. Ever since I saw Optimus shatter to piece I hadn't been able to feel Jetfire's emotions and I knew he was blocking them from me. Soon I saw the warp gate open and Jetfire flew into the room, landing on the floor and transformed into his robotic form. He only regarded me with a single glance before he started walking out of the room. That was when I noticed the familiar yellow Mini-Con that I knew was Optimus' partner, Sparkplug, and he was holding the gold object (the Matrix, I reminded myself) that the previous Autobot Leader had been trying to give Hot shot before he and Jetfire left.

"What happened?" I asked.

Sparkplug merely bleeped at me, but I frowned when I couldn't understand what he was saying at all.

"I wish I could understand what you and the other Mini-Cons were saying. I really do. But I don't think I'll ever be able to understand any of you."

Sparkplug bleeped at me again before holding out the Matrix to me. I was confused and I held out my hands to hold the slightly large object (I had to hold it with both hands due to its size and weight) before the yellow Mini-Con gently took a hold of my arm and started leading my towards the door.

"Hey! Where are you taking me?"

I didn't know what was going on, but what I did know was that Sparkplug was leading me in the direction that the command center was before we went into said room. Everyone turned to see us as both Sparkplug and I entered the room and everyone's eyes and optics (if applicable) widened when they saw the Matrix I held in both of my hands.

"The Matrix!" Hot Shot exclaimed.

I honestly didn't know what to do with it, but then Scavenger approached me, knelt down, and held his large hand out as if waiting for something to be placed in it. I realized that he wanted me to give him the Matrix and I went up to him, carefully placing it in his waiting hand. As soon as I did that Scavenger stood up before going back over to the others.

"Have any of you seen Jetfire?" I asked.

"None of us has seen him yet." Red Alert told me.

Then that meant that Jetfire hadn't come in here are all. I quickly left the command center and headed in the direction that Jetfire's quarters were, but when I went inside I didn't see him in there at all. I thought he would've been in here.

'_Jetfire…_' I thought. '_Where are you?_'

He wasn't talking to me and I couldn't feel is emotions through our connection. Where else could he be? I felt confused and I started heading in the direction of the entrance to the base for some reason. But then I was surprised when I found Jetfire sitting near the ledge outside the base with his head hanging and his shoulders slouching slightly. Despite the fact that I couldn't feel his emotions I had a feeling that he was sad and hurt over the loss of Optimus. Even I felt sad about it as well. I hesitantly started making my way over to him, feeling unsure if I should approach him or not with him being in the state he was in, but so far he hasn't said or done anything to tell me otherwise. I soon stood by his side before placing my hand against the side of his left arm. I watched his face for any reaction, but Jetfire never even turned his head to face me. I didn't know what to do or say to him. I wasn't even sure how to make him feel slightly better. All I knew was that I needed to comfort him.

"He's gone…" Jetfire suddenly said quietly, taking me by surprise. My eyes softened when I heard the sad tone in his voice.

"Jetfire…" I whispered, unsure of what to say.

"I know I should be relieved that he saved this planet and everyone on it and I should be grateful. But I'm not! I could've done more if I hadn't been held back by those Decepticons!" I jumped out of the way when Jetfire suddenly slammed a clenched fist on the ground near me and I could feel the slight tremor caused by it. "I would've been able to _help _him! But I wasn't able to at all! If I had only been able to help him Optimus might still be _alive_!"

Jetfire started to tremble slightly as I heard him let out a shaky breath. I knew he was upset, not only over Optimus' death, but with himself as well. I slowly approached his left arm again before wrapping my arms around it in an attempt to hug him. I could feel tears forming in my eyes as I was able to understand how Jetfire felt, but I wanted him to be open with me. I wanted him to allow me to help him.

"Jetfire. I know you're upset. We're all upset. I know you're also hurting as well, despite the fact that you're blocking your emotions from me." I told him. "Share your pain with me. Share your sadness with me. I want your pain to be my pain. I want your sadness to be my sadness. I want to feel everything you're feeling right now so that we can mourn together."

Jetfire didn't say anything, but soon I felt a pair of arms wrap around me from behind before I was pulled into the form behind me. I turned around and wrapped my arms around Jetfire's holoform as he suddenly buried his face in my shoulder. His shoulders shook slightly as I felt my shirt starting to get wet, knowing that he was crying. I managed to have us both sit down on the ground and as I continued to hold Jetfire close I could feel him slowly start to unblock his end of our connection. I started crying myself when I felt all of Jetfire's raw emotions flood into my mind and he tightened his hold around me slightly, as if he were still a small child needing comfort from their mother after having experienced a horrible nightmare. He was in so much pain right now and I could feel my heart ache because of it. I started rubbing his back as I tried soothing him. I wanted him to know that I was here for him, that I would comfort him whenever he needed it. After knowing what he had gone through in his past I knew that he needed this more than anything. I started quietly humming the Cybertronian Lullaby to him, hoping that it would help him feel better if I did so. He seemed to calm down slightly. It seemed to work for the most part, but he still held onto me as he quietly cried. I looked up at the night sky above, seeing that there was a huge star shower over the base. Despite how beautiful it looked, it also seemed sad, almost like the sky or the universe was mourning Optimus' death.

* * *

ATE: And that concludes chapter 16. This took awhile for me to finish, but at least it didn't take me a whole month to finish it. I've actually uploaded two drawings I did on deviantart, one of them being a side view of Valerie I drew while the second one is a drawing I did of Jetfire's holoform. Here's the link (without the spaces):

Valerie (Side View)  
http : / aerith -the- evenstar . deviantart . com /gallery/ #/ d4g oj 1z

Jetfire (Holoform)  
http : / aerith -the- evenstar . deviantart . com / gallery /# / d4g za ki

That's it for now. Please remember to review! ;D


	17. Remorse

ATE: YES! I finally managed to update before this upcoming Thrusday, which will be when I'll be going skiing for the next week! I'd like to thank **Crystalmaiden62**,** Azura Soul Reaver**,** SeekerLuna**,** Sailor Shinzo**,** Autobot-Bre**,** DarkButterfly128**,** Bumblebeecamaro38**,** XLizardXQueenX**, and **Diamond White **for reviewing the last chapter, and of course to anyone else still following this story. This chapter took a bit of time planning what I wanted to happen, but luckily I know how I want the next chapter to flow anyways, so I'll probably work on it while I'm on vacation.

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

* * *

Chapter 17: Remorse

After having comforted Jetfire over the loss of Optimus I offered to stay with him that night in hopes that it would help. He accepted and had deactivated his holoform before picking me up in his hand. Even during the walk to his quarters I knew he was still sad and doing his best to keep himself together. I had a feeling that he would press that one switch to make his quarters soundproof for privacy's sake. I found out that I was right about him pressing that switch as soon as we entered his quarters before taking me over to the nightstand that had the human sized bed I have used whenever I stayed with him.

Jetfire placed me on top of it, went over to his berth to lay down on his back and deactivated his optics before his holoform materialized in front of me. I could still see the sadness in his gold eyes and I gently took a hold of his large hands before leading him over to the bed. Before I knew it I found myself sitting down on the bed with Jetfire laying on his side and his head resting in my lap while he cried quietly. I started running my fingers through his reddish brown hair and I saw that he relaxed slightly from it. I now understood why Jetfire didn't like seeing me sad or upset-because it hurt to see a loved one in such a state. It hurt me to see him like this, but this was his time to mourn and he had every right to do so.

"Don't be afraid to let it all out, Jetfire." I told him quietly, feeling my own tears start to fall from my eyes. "It'll make you feel better."

And he did. I didn't mind the fact that my clothes got soaked from his tears or if he clung to me like a small child needing comfort from their mother. Because that was what he needed, comfort. I continued to cry with him as I was reminded of my first mission with the Autobots and how Optimus put himself in harms way to allow me to run away from Megatron. Then there was the memory of what happened to Smokescreen before he became Hoist and how sad Optimus had been. Transformers may live for a long time, but they weren't invincible. This was the painful truth of life.

No one is invincible.

Everyone is capable of dying.

Autobots were capable of dying.

Decepticons were capable of dying.

Humans and animals are capable of dying.

Jetfire is capable of dying.

I'm capable of dying.

Eventually Jetfire stopped crying and I looked down to find him staring blankly at nothing specific, just staring into space. This confused me since I had never seen him with that expression before, but then he took on a thoughtful look.

"I'll have to take over." He said, his voice quiet.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'm Vice Commander of the Autobots. With Optimus gone it's my responsibility to take his place. But it won't have to be that way for long if our new Commander finally decides to step up to the plate."

I was confused by this.

"New Commander?"

"You were there when it happened. Before I left with Optimus to stop the Decepticons he was offering the Matrix to Hot Shot. Didn't you see that?"

I let this run through my head. Yes, I remember the gold object that Optimus wanted Hot Shot to hold onto, but refused to do so. It was also the same object that Sparkplug had me hold onto while he dragged me to the command center by the arm. There was something important about the Matrix that the older transformers knew about, but the younger ones (Hot Shot and Sideswipe) didn't. My eyes widened when I realized what it meant!

"Optimus chose Hot Shot to be the new Commander! He knew something like this was going to happen and made him his successor!"

Jetfire nodded.

"It's what Optimus would've wanted. But Hot Shot doesn't really know that was what he was doing. All he knew was that Optimus wanted him to protect it. So until Hot Shot understands what he needs to do, I'll be in charge."

I smiled a small smile as I moved some strands of hair out of his face.

"Hopefully we won't have a repeat of what happened last time you took charge."

At this a small yet sad smile appeared on Jetfire's face as he understood what I was talking about.

"Don't worry. I learned my lesson last time. You and Optimus made sure of that." Jetfire grabbed my free hand before holding it close to his chest where I could faintly feel his spark pulsing, similar to how a person would feel a beating heart. "I'm glad you're here this time."

I was confused. What did he mean by that?

"I don't understand."

"When my mother was offlined I didn't have anyone to comfort me like this. No one to hold me or tell me everything's gonna be alright. To think…I was so close to losing you if Optimus hadn't sacrificed himself to protect this planet and everyone on it."

"You didn't lose me, Jetfire. I'm safe, the Earth's safe, and everyone living on it is safe. Never forget that."

"Not even planning on it." Jetfire sighed before shutting his eyes. "I'm so tired, Skydancer. Stay with me?"

I smiled down at him.

"Always."

It was then that I did something I rarely did. I sang. And I sang for Jetfire. I sang the words I remembered from when he sang the Cybertronian Lullaby to me, and I could feel him start to relax and his breathing start to slow down. During that time he never let go of my hand even when his hold slacken slightly. By the time I was finished singing Jetfire was relaxed and was starting to fall asleep.

"Thank you…Mom…" Jetfire said tiredly.

My eyes widened and I held my breath when Jetfire said that. He was so tired that he thought I was Astera. My gaze soften as I gazed down at him with a soft smile.

"You're welcome…my little Jetfire." I said quietly. It was weird having to pretend that I was Astera, but I was glad that I knew that she called him her 'little Jetfire'. I just hope that he thought I was his mother long enough for him to fall asleep. And hopefully Astera would understand why I was pretending to be her.

But in the end it worked since Jetfire was asleep with such a peaceful look on his holoform's face. I waited a few minutes before deciding to move him into a more comfortable position. It took awhile since not only was he bigger than me, but also heavier, but eventually I managed to get him to rest his head on the pillow. I faced him as I laid down on the mattress beside him and I was thankful for the change of position since my legs were sore from having to sit in the same position while comforting Jetfire, but it was worth it to see his face look so serene as he slept. I wrapped my arms around him before placing the side of my face against his chest. I was…happy that I was able to do this for him, to comfort him when he really needed it. I wasn't alive to comfort him 70,000 years ago, but I was now and I was fully capable of doing so. My sparkmate. I just hoped he had peaceful dreams instead of the nightmares that war and death brought.

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When I woke up the next day I wasn't surprised when I didn't see Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred around since I knew they went home to sleep in their own beds. It felt strange that I was the only human on base since my friends had always been around whenever I came here. I couldn't exactly say that I felt special, but I couldn't say that I didn't either.

Luckily Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred arrived at the base eventually and they were all sad (Fred was crying loudly). I stood with them as I gazed at the platform that displayed the gold object that I had come to know as the Matrix. To think that I had held such an important relic without realizing its true nature yesterday when Sparkplug handed it to me. But then that just gave rise to more questions. Why did Sparkplug hand the Matrix to me when he could've just held onto it and gone to give it to Scavenger himself? Was it because I was the only person with him when Jetfire left the launching dock?

I shook my head. That couldn't be it. He could've given it to Jetfire to hold onto, but he didn't, he chose me. But why? There wasn't anything special about me that would warrant me to do so. And there was the fact that he dragged me to the command center while I held the Matrix. I shouldn't have been allowed to touch it at all. It was an object that belong to the transformers, and the transformers should be the only ones to touch it, not humans. Looking back on the memory I felt like I defiled it just because I held it, tainted it. I didn't feel right about it now. It felt like blasphemy.

"I-is there anyway - we can fix Optimus?" Fred asked while still crying.

I turned around to look at Red Alert, who stood with Hoist, Blurr, Scavenger, Hot Shot, and Sideswipe. He looked down at us through his red visor.

"I'm sorry. It can't be done." Red Alert explained, his tone making us realize how much Optimus' death affected us. "Optimus' body released its spark when it blocked the Hydra Cannon's blast. And without it, there's no way we can bring him back. I wish there was some way we could, but we're just gonna have to pull ourselves together and carry on without him."

"Yeah, but _how_?" Carlos asked.

"Optimus…" Rad said, lowering his gaze to the floor. "He _knew_ that he would never _survive_ the blast from the Hydra Cannon. I know he sacrificed himself for us and everyone else on planet Earth, but I know I'm not the only one who feels lost without him."

There was no doubt that everyone else felt the same way as well. Things didn't feel the same now that Optimus was gone and I realize just how much of an impact he made in my life. I remembered when I had talked to him in his office, recalling how kind and patient he had been while we talked about the incident between me and Jetfire. I didn't notice it before, but I found myself aware of how much I viewed him as a sort of father figure.

True to his word Jetfire took command of the Autobots since he was Vice Commander. But with it came the big responsibility of maintaining order among everyone else. It didn't help that it caused him some stress from all the work he had to do. When I asked him if there was anything I could do to help Jetfire just shook his head at me, telling me that there was nothing I could do and that he was grateful that I was willing to help out. I know it's the thought that counts, but I couldn't help but feel useless. I wanted to help, I really did, but I wasn't able to. I just felt horrible just seeing him work so hard without giving himself a break and he wouldn't even let me help. He was pushing himself, I knew that much. Was this his way to cope with Optimus' death? To distract himself by doing so much work?

As I had already stated, Jetfire had been working really hard without taking any breaks, not even stopping to rest or drink energon. I was fully aware of how it was affecting him. I could tell that he was exhausted and it showed from how his gold optics would dim slightly and brighten (just like they did when he was trying to work while taking care of me at the same time during my recover), and how his movements would sometimes be sluggish. Sometimes when he moved to just bend his arms or legs (or any type of movement) I would hear this screeching sound that hurt my ears to the point that even trying to cover my ears with my hands wouldn't block out the horrible sounding noise. He would winch whenever this happened and I knew that it was causing him so much pain despite how hard he tried to hide it from me. I couldn't understand why he would do this to himself!

I tried begging him to stop, to get some rest or drink some energon, but being the stubborn mech that he was he refused to listen to me, saying that his duties were important at the moment. So was his life, I told him. He merely sighed before continuing his work. Why wouldn't he listen to me? He knew that I promised Astera I would take care of him (along with promising Silverbolt as well), but how was I supposed to do that if he wouldn't even listen to me? I felt…powerless knowing that I couldn't do anything to help or stop Jetfire from overworking himself. I tried so hard to make him realize this and I did everything I could think of to get him to look away from his work for even three seconds. But in the end I felt that it was all my fault, that I didn't try hard enough. Didn't he realize how much it was hurting me to watch him do this to himself? There was nothing I could do except just be there for him, but even my presence had little to no effect.

It had been like this for the last few days, Jetfire working nonstop without any rest or energon. I knew how important energon was to the transformers, how it wasn't only their source of food (the best thing to compare it to being a car needing gasoline to continue working; without it the car wouldn't work), but it served as their lifeblood and fuel. And my sparkmate wasn't drinking any at all. He was starving himself just to get his work done.

One day I was with Jetfire in his office while he continued working when it happened. The abuse he put himself through finally caught up with his body and he just suddenly collapsed, falling out of the chair he was sitting in and ending up sprawled on the floor. I cried out in shock and had climbed down the ladder before running over to him. Jetfire's optics were deactivated and my eyes widened when I heard (and slightly felt) how slowly his spark was humming and pulsing. I started getting desperate and tried calling his name over and over, but he never responded. Even trying to contact that him through our connection wasn't working and I couldn't get inside his mind at all to figure out what was happening. I ended up crying since nothing I did was working and it was then that I remembered the portable comlink that Red Alert made me and managed to contact him. By the time I reached him I was just a mess of tears and I told him what happened to Jetfire. Red Alert was shocked from what I told him, but then he had to calm me down by telling me that he was on his way.

I had gone over to Jetfire's hand and wrapped my arms around his thumb, but I started crying again when I noticed that his hand wasn't as warm as it usually was and had slowly started to get colder. My heart started to ache slightly in pain and I clung desperately to his hand.

"How could you do this to yourself?" I asked quietly. "You should've listen to me, Jetfire! I told you to stop, to get some rest, and drink energon, but you didn't listen." I was upset that I started pounding my fist on the palm of his hand. "You stupid, stupid, stupid mech! Why do you always have to be so stubborn?"

I didn't notice the huge door hiss open, but it was when I was gently pulled away from Jetfire's hand that I realized that not only was Red Alert here, but also Scavenger who happened to be the one that pulled me away from Jetfire. Red Alert managed to pull Jetfire from the floor and started dragging him out of his office. I turned to look at Scavenger and was greeted to the serious look on his face, but his optics seemed to soften a bit when he saw my face. I must've looked like a mess to get him to do that, but I was surprised when he started walking out of Jetfire's office and following Red Alert who wasn't so far away from where we were. I was still surprised that Scavenger was following the medic that was dragging my sparkmate as quickly as he could to the med bay and I turned around to face him again in my confusion.

"I can understand how you feel." Scavenger whispered so only I could hear.

My eyes widened at this. Did…Scavenger know…about me and Jetfire being sparkmates?

"What?" I asked quietly.

"You're worried about Jetfire. But the amount of concern you have for him, it's more than just friendship, isn't it?"

How many more surprises was I going to get today? My face must've said everything since Scavenger gave a small smile.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

I lowered my gaze as I felt my face heat up. So he knew about my relationship with Jetfire, but he said he wouldn't tell anyone. I was relieved by this.

"Thank you, Scavenger."

Scavenger continued to follow Red Alert until we got to the med bay. We entered just in time to see Red Alert place Jetfire's body on top of one of the many berths in the room before running off. He came back with a bunch of wires and I realized that they must've been something similar to IV lines since I saw the huge yet thick needles on the ends. I shuddered at the thought of being punctured by one of them, but then I remembered that Jetfire was afraid of needles as well. I feel sorry for him since he was going to be the one waking up to all those needles in him. Red Alert started putting the huge needles into various locations on Jetfire's body, ranging from his arms and legs to his shoulders and chest. As soon as he finished putting the last one in I could hear a beeping sound similar to a heart monitor, but is was slow with pauses between each beep.

I was just horrified at the sight and I placed a hand over my mouth as fresh tears started to well up in my eyes. Despite the aching pain in my heart I didn't think about clutching a hand over it since I didn't want to give away the fact that I was Jetfire's sparkmate. I didn't want anymore people to know about it. Looking at the wires I could see these glowing neon pink fluids being pumped gradually into the areas Jetfire was injected at a steady rate, furthering my theory of them being similar to IVs. Maybe it was used the same way for transformers. Luckily I learned from Red Alert that that those wires were actually providing the shuttle mech with energon to help prove the lack of energon in his system.

"Is…Jetfire going to be okay?" I asked, still very worried about him.

"He will be now that we have him hooked up." Red Alert told me. "Would you mind telling me what happened?"

And I told Red Alert what had happened and all the things I had noticed. How Jetfire overworked himself without resting, how he hadn't had any energon at all, and the screeching noise he made whenever he moved. I told him how this had been going on for the last few days.

"It's a good thing you contacted me when you did. If you hadn't Jetfire would've ended up offlining or in stasis lock, which is a state similar to what you humans consider a coma." My heart skipped a beat when he said that. Jetfire would have died or fell into a coma. "As you had told me, he hadn't gotten any recharge or drank energon in the last few days while working. The screeching sound you heard whenever Jetfire moved around was because of the low level of energon in his system. It's similar to how a door can be difficult to open with rust coating the hinges."

"This is my fault. I should've tried harder to get him to stop, but-"

"This isn't your fault at all, Valerie." Scavenger said, causing me to turn to look at him. "You did your best to try and stop him, but we all know how stubborn Jetfire can be at times."

"To be honest I'm not surprised that he ended up like this." Red Alert stated. "With the fact that he's Vice Commander it's his duty to take over in our Commander's absence. But now that Optimus is gone the duties of Commander all fall on his shoulders. Hopefully when Jetfire wakes up he'll realize the consequences of his actions upon seeing all the needles that I have hooked up to him."

Despite the fact that Red Alert was only joking with the last part, I still felt horrible that Jetfire would wake up to all those needles. I would be scared too if I had to wake up like that.

"Can I stay with him?" I asked.

Red Alert nodded before taking me from Scavenger (who left as soon as he did so) and brought me over to the berth Jetfire was on. As soon as I was placed on top of it I went over to stand next to Jetfire's head. Time pass as I stayed in the same spot the whole time and Red Alert had even left for a bit to get himself some rest and relaxation in the rec room. I was too worried about Jetfire to really do anything besides be at his side. Eventually I saw his optics activate slowly and it took a while for Jetfire to register that he was in the med bay, followed by realizing I was with him and that he had a bunch of needles hooked up to his body (which he freaked out over and he would've probably pulled them out if it wasn't for me stopping him). I didn't hide the fact that I had been so worried about him and to both of our surprise I scolded him for having worried me and not taking care of himself. I told him how scared I had been when he collapsed and how my heart had actually ached painfully from what had happened to him, as if in response to Jetfire's condition. I wanted him to know that I didn't want him overworking himself after what happened today. I just hope that he'll keep his word.

Jetfire had gotten better by the time the week came to an end mainly because I would remind him to get some rest and drink some energon (which he did while I wasn't around since he wouldn't let me see his face). Despite all of this he never complained once since he knew that I was only looking after him, that it was for his own good. It was when the week came to an end that Jetfire left the base since he wanted to see if there was anything left of the Decepticons' base on the moon. I didn't bother asking to go with him since I knew he would say no. I wanted to see what space looked like, but for some reason I felt that I would've agreed with Jetfire to stay at the base. He didn't want me to get hurt if something were to happen while he was out there. I didn't know what to do now except wait.

That was why I was sitting outside the base looking up at the clear blue sky. I felt tears start to form in my eyes as I recalled everything that happened a week ago. Nobody was aware that the Earth had been so close to being destroyed by the Hydra Cannon. None of them knew that Optimus had sacrificed himself so that we could live, but it had to be this way. They couldn't know about the transformers. I couldn't help but wonder if things would've been different if Optimus had life, if he had managed to survive the blast from the Hydra Cannon. I shook my head. That was just wishful thinking. I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and I turned to find Rad and Alexis riding their bikes to the base. I wasn't surprised to see the nostalgic expressions on their faces, knowing that everyone was still sad about losing Optimus. Even the Autobots were still sad, and despite pretending that it was just business I knew that it was affecting everyone.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot was with the other Autobots as they all worked on building the spaceship. He tried to best to distract himself from thinking about what happened last week, but when he wasn't paying attention his processor would always drift back to seeing Optimus disintegrating into space dust.

'_Focus!_' He told himself. '_Focus on working on the ship!_'

Suddenly he heard the loud banging sound of something dropping to the floor. Hot Shot glanced over his shoulder to see that the object had been dropped by Hoist before going back to working on the part of the ship he was building. He knew that everyone else was looking at the white mech anyways.

"Oh, man!" Hoist groaned.

"Try and be more _careful_, Hoist!" Red Alert told him.

"I'm _trying_, Red Alert, but how can I when somebody keeps messing with my _tools _all the time!" He said irritably before turning to Red Alert. "So back off, will ya?"

"Well I think _maybe_ you've cross-wired your _circuits _again."

"And just how would _you_ know? You don't know the first _thing_ about installing a matrix circuit."

Red Alert groaned quietly at this.

"Sideswipe, take over for me here." Scavenger said.

"Uh, yessir!" Sideswipe replied.

"Good idea." Blurr said as he stood up. "Those two could use a break anyway."

Hot Shot gritted his teeth at this. He couldn't distract himself by working with all this fighting around, and it only reminded him of the fact that the Decepticons had a spaceship while the Autobots didn't have on at all! What was the point of building the spaceship in the first place_?_! Hot Shot threw the tool that he held in his servo to the flow in frustration.

"Huh?" Blurr and Sideswipe said as everyone turned around to face him.

Hot Shot growled irritably.

"_Why_ are we wasting our _time_ building the spaceship?" Hot Shot asked, clenching his servos tightly into fists. "The Decepticons are _gone_. They're a _thousand_ light years _away_ now, guys. C'mon!"

"Yeah! He's _right_!" Hoist said.

'_Of course I'm right!_' Hot Shot thought before kicking the ship in his anger before starting to walk towards the door. "Forget this! I'm outta here!"

"Bro, wait!" He heard Sideswipe call to him, but Hot Shot never stopped walking.

'_It's time to take matters into my own servos!_' Hot Shot thought.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I was with Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred when we heard the sound of large footsteps coming down the hallway from around the corner.

"Jetfire! Hey, where ya hidin', Jetfire?"

That was Hot Shot's voice! I looked around the corner with Rad to see that the yellow mech was walking down the hallway in our direction.

"Hey, Hot Shot…" Rad said.

At this Hot Shot saw both Rad and I looking around the corner and stopped walking.

"Have ya seen Jetfire?" Hot Shot asked.

"Oh, uh, Jetfire said he was going to check out the Decepticons' moon base again."

"Man!" Hot Shot yelled and I jumped in surprise when he slammed his left elbow into the wall next to him, which resulted in it being dented from the impact.

"Whoa!"

Hot Shot then walked off down the hallway he had been coming from. It was obvious that he was angry, that much I could tell. Alexis, Carlos, Billy, and Fred looked around the corner as well to see Hot Shot walking of as well.

"Something is _really _bothering him." Alexis said, sounding concerned.

It was then that we decided to follow Hot Shot and I soon realized that he was making his way to the launching dock. We entered just in time to see him slam his fist into the wall he stood next to.

"Why did you do it, Optimus_?_!" Hot Shot asked. He seemed to realize something since the tone of his voice changed. "Oh man... I _yelled_ at him. I never had the right to question Optimus' leadership. _Never_! He was our commander."

We watched the whole thing from where we stood and I couldn't help but feel sorry for Hot Shot. I can still remember when he yelled at Optimus and now the yellow mech was feeling horrible for doing so now that he was gone.

"Wow, poor guy." Carlos said.

"Yeah, I just hope he'll be all right." Rad agreed. "Huh?" Suddenly we heard the familiar sound of the warp gate being activated. "It's Jetfire!"

I felt my heart skip a beat when I heard what Rad said and felt slightly anxious. Hot Shot turned his head to look in time to see the warp gate open to show Jetfire flying in and landing on the floor.

"Transform!" Jetfire yelled before changing into his bipedal mode and stand in place.

"Jetfire…" Hot Shot said as he approached the shuttle mech.

"Huh?" He turned his head to look at Hot Shot.

"C'mon, let's go. I want you to take me into space right now."

"_Wha…_?" Jetfire asked, his voice slightly high pitched and sounding very much confused as he just stared at the yellow mech. I could even feel his confusion through our connection.

"We're going after those Decepticons. I'm gonna make them _pay _for what they did. Because I'm gonna get revenge for Optimus."

I was surprised at how determined Hot Shot sounded. Apparently Jetfire didn't like the way he was acting since I saw him narrow his optics.

"_You_ need to _calm_ _down_!"

Jetfire's voice was stern and I knew he meant every word. After having to deal with constantly keeping everyone in line for the past week (along with all the work he had to do) I wouldn't blame him for being annoyed or irritated at Hot Shot. And he wasn't going deal with the way he was acting either. We ran over to stand behind Hot Shot.

"You gotta let me do it." Hot Shot turned around to see us standing behind him. "I've got to!"

"What are you saying?" Alexis asked.

"Hot Shot!" Rad said.

"There's nothing left of the moon base." Jetfire said calmly as he turned to look at the wall on the opposite end. Hot Shot turned to look at him. "My _guess_ is that the Decepticons headed towards Cybertron _hours_ ago."

Hot Shot growled quietly at this.

"Planet _Cybertron_?" Alexis asked.

Cybertron. I remember hearing about it from Jetfire before, but he didn't really tell me that much about it. All I knew was that he and the rest of the transformers were from there, that it was their home. Jetfire turned his head to look at Hot Shot.

"I _understand_ why you wanna go after them, Hot Shot. But without a proper ship, there's no _way_ we can catch them."

"I've heard enough." Hot Shot said, turning around so that his back was facing us.

"Hu-" Jetfire turned his whole body to face Hot Shot completely. "What's that supposed to me-?"

"You heard what I _said_." The yellow mech interrupted before turning to look at Jetfire. "Listen, I know it's your job as deputy commander of the Autobots to make the decisions around here. But... but you can't _do_ it."

"You're _wrong_." Jetfire growled, sounding irritated now. "Right _now_ we have to focus on the _spaceship_, _NOT REVENGE_."

"He's right, brother." We all turned to find Sideswipe, along with the other Autobots standing inside the launching dock. "We're gonna need the ship _finished_ if we're gonna catch them." Sideswipe said calmly.

"Hey! Quiet!" Hot Shot snapped.

"Hhh, bro?" Sideswipe took a step back at this.

"Hot Shot!" Blurr shouted.

"You too! _Back off_!"

I didn't miss the stern look on Scavenger's face as he glared at Hot Shot before he started approaching him.

"Huh?" Hot Shot took a step back. "What do you want?"

Scavenger remained quiet, but suddenly he grab a hold of Hot Shot's arm before flinging him to the floor where he slams on his back. When he recovered the yellow mech siat up.

"Hey, what do ya think _you're_ doing?"

"Come with me." Scavenger ordered before grabbing Hot Shot's arm and started dragging him along the floor. I could tell that it hurt Hot Shot since he hissed in pain.

"What's going on?" Carlos asked.

"He's done for." Fred said.

"Hey, let me go, you big lug!" Hot Shot yelled as Scavenger continued dragging him towards the launching area.

"Quiet." Scavenger told him.

"Where we going, anyway?"

"Be quiet!"

Suddenly Jolt (Hot Shot's Mini-Con partner) started bleeping before stepping forward.

"I _said_, let _go_ of _me_! Aah!" He continued yelling.

Jolt transformed into a helicopter and started flying after Hot Shot and Scavenger just as they left through the warp gate that appeared in front of them.

"I don't like the look of this." Rad said.

'_Neither do I._' I thought, feeling worried for Hot Shot.

I left the launching dock with Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred and we started running down the hallway as we made our way to the command center so that we could see what was happening.

"Rad, the team is falling apart." Alexis stated, sounding worried.

"And I wish Optimus was _still_ around." Billy added.

"Me too." Fred agreed.

"C'mon! The Autobots will work it out, you guys!" Rad told us.

We eventually made it to the command center and Alexis started typing at the human sized monitor as she tried to get the footage from the coordinates that Hot Shot and Scavenger went to.

"Oh…" She said before the monitor showed what looked to be an unfinished highway with a red dot flashing near the gap between the two roads. "Got 'em!"

"Where?" Rad asked?

"On a highway. But it's been abandoned for years."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot stared up at Scavenger from where he sat on the ground, but he barely managed to dodge when the older mech suddenly started to attack him. Seeing where Scavenger's fist had smashed the road the yellow mech was surprised as he realized that could've been him if he hadn't moved when he did.

"Hey, chill out!" Hot Shot yelled.

Hot Shot's blue optics widened in shock when Scavenger started charging at him. Before he knew it Hot Shot found himself on the ground after being punched in the face and he winched slightly in pain.

"Get up and fight me." Scavenger demanded.

"What's up, Scavenger?" Hot Shot asked. "We're friends."

Hot Shot watched as Scavenger's optics narrowed at him in a glare. The yellow mech recalled the human saying 'if looks could kill'. If there were true, then he'd probably be in the Pit by now.

"We are not. You are no friend of mine. Now _get up_." Scavenger clasped his servo together before slamming them down on Hot Shot in an attempt to hurt him. Luckily the yellow mech got out of the way, but now he found himself barely dodging Scavenger's fists as he tried to punch him. "What's the matter? I thought you were angry! Well let's see you prove it to me."

"Hey! Take it easy, would ya?"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

My eyes were wide as I watched Hot Shot and Scavenger fighting each other on the monitor, although it was more like Hot Shot was just dodging Scavenger's attacks.

"Holy, Scavenger's really laying into him." Carlos said.

"Isn't there something we can do?" Alexis asked.

I looked over my shoulder to see the other Autobots towering over us from behind as they watched the fight on the monitor. Just by looking at them I could see that they all had the same expression on their faces (or in their optics). Jetfire's gold optics were narrow, his arms crossed while his blaster was mounted on his right arm and not once did I feel any concern from him. How could he be so blasé about this whole situation?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Why are you doing this?" Hot Shot shouted as he continued dodging Scavenger's punches. "We're on the same side! Ease up!"

"_You _want _me_ to ease up, well let's see how tough you _really_ are then!" Scavenger yelled. Hot Shot gasped quietly, but he barely managed to catch Scavenger's fist when it was about to hit him in the face. He did all he could to hold the older mech's fist in place, which has always been difficult for him to do even when he was in training. "What do you think Optimus would do? Now _show_ me!"

"I know... he wouldn't be pushed around by _you_! He would _fight_!" Scavenger growled quietly at this. "All right, I'll _show_ you what I can do, Scavenger!"

"Here, try this!" Scavenger said before send Hot Shot flying into the side guard of the road. "You brought this on yourself!"

Hot Shot looked up in time to see Scavenger charging at him and he barely got out of the way before his fist smashed into the rocky wall.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Alexis gasped as she watched what was happening and covered her eyes.

"Stop it!" She cried.

"Oh no! It looks like Scavenger's gonna squish Hot Shot!" Carlos exclaimed.

"_No_! We have to put a stop to this!"

"We can't." Jetfire stated. "This is Hot Shot's last chance to prove himself to _all_ of us."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot was taken by surprise when Scavenger suddenly picked him up, but it was short-lived since he flung him to the ground. He was surprised when he saw Jolt standing next to him and he sat up just in time to see that Scavenger was about to fire his built-in blaster at him, causing his blue optics widened in shock.

"No! You _wouldn't_!" Hot Shot yelled fearfully before turning to his Mini-Con partner. "Quick, Jolt!"

Jolt changed into a blaster and Hot Shot snatched it before firing it at the shot that came out of Scavenger's blaster, resulting in the two attacks to cancel each other out upon impact.

"You _won't_ be so lucky next time." Scavenger said, glaring down at Hot Shot. This caused the yellow mech to feel confused.

"What's wrong? What have I _done_?"

"You don't have a _clue_, do you? _Think _about it a _second_! I don't have _time_ for this!"

"Oh _yeah_?"

Hot Shot got up and started charging at Scavenger before getting a hold of the older mech's waist.

"If you _don't_ know your place in the Autobots by now, I can't _help_ you!" Scavenger yelled.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

From what I could see on the monitor Hot Shot and Scavenger were trying to shove each other, but with no luck since neither of them would budge.

"This is definitely _not_ the time for friends to be _fighting_ amongst each other." Alexis stated before turning around to look at Jetfire. "Please, Jetfire, make them stop!"

I turned around to look up at him as well. I didn't like the look that I saw in his optics as he gazed down at us and it just made me feel anxious.

"No." Jetfire said sternly. His voice suddenly became quieter and calmer. "_Not yet_."

"Why _not?_!"

I didn't like this side of Jetfire. The last time I saw him like this was when I found him in the rec room the day after he learned about my secret admirer. At the time I hadn't felt anything in response to the way he looked at me, but now that I saw him this way again I just made me feel uneasy. It was short-lived when I started feeling a little frustrated and I turned around to look away from him. I clenched my hands tightly to the point that I could feel my nails digging into the palm of hands and gritted my teeth. Why weren't the Autobots doing anything?

'_Do something, Jetfire!_' I yelled. '_Do something to make them stop fighting!_'

Jetfire didn't say anything, but then I felt his presence in my mind as he tried to hold me in comfort. But instead of accepting the embrace like I've always have, I mentally pushed him away from me and out of his hold. I could feel the hurt Jetfire felt from my rejection, but I wasn't going to let that guilt me at the moment.

_**{In war tough decisions have to be made. This is the duty any leader has to face in life.}**_ Jetfire told me, settling back into the persona of a stern leader.

'_This has nothing to do with war! Friends aren't supposed to be fighting each other._' I squeezed my eyes shut. '_I hate life sometimes. Why can't things just be simple instead of being so complicated? People are always fighting each other because no one ever wants to talk things out._'

_**{If life were so simple then we wouldn't have any conflicts at all. No disagreements or problems. Life would be dull and uninteresting.}**_

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot and Scavenger were still locked in their shoving war as they tried to push the other down. The yellow mech was having some difficulty with the exchange and the older mech managed to push him back slightly, but he wasn't going to give up. He was too stubborn to do so.

"Do you have any idea _why_ I left the _Decepticons_ and came over to the _Autobots_?" Scavenger suddenly asked.

"Better money?" Hot Shot answered sarcastically, managing to push Scavenger back a bit.

"I joined because of _you_!"

Scavenger tried to push Hot Shot back, but he leg go before that could even happen. He took a step back with his optics wide in shock.

"_Liar_!" Hot Shot yelled. "I don't _believe_ you, Scavenger!"

It couldn't be true! It was just a lie so Scavenger could catch him off guard. But Hot Shot wasn't going to fall for it! Instead he threw his fist at Scavenger, but the older mech simply caught it easily with just one servo.

"Remember what _Sideways_ did to you. He deceived you and _sent_ you into that trap on the moon."

Hot Shot couldn't help but be reminded of what happened. How he still had the Star Saber when he and Sideways (who he had thought was an Autobot) were on the moon, only to lose the weapon to the Decepticons when he betrayed him.

"I was crazy to go off on my own. But I _had _to." Hot Shot told him.

"Yes, that complete lack of fear has served you _well_, Hot Shot." Scavenger told him before suddenly punching the yellow mech to the ground.

"Hey, what are you _talking_ about?" Hot Shot looked up at him when he managed to recover, feeling confused by what Scavenger said.

Scavenger approached Hot Shot before standing over him.

"There was _no way _you could have known that _Sideways_ was still working with the Decepticons, yet you still went into battle. I _admired_ that. Even though Optimus disagreed with your strategy, he would have _done_ the _same_... if he was in your _position_." Scavenger explained. He then glared down at him. "Yet you had the _nerve_ to question him when he took Starscream on our side, even though he had no other _choice _at the time. _You_ were _way_ out of line."

"So what?" Hot Shot asked, not understanding what Scavenger's point was.

"He was _our_ leader."

Hot Shot now realized what Scavenger was saying. It all made sense now. He hung his head.

"Yeah, I understand. I should _never_ had said that." Hot Shot then stood up. "But I _tried_ to tell him from the start that Starscream would double-cross us, Scavenger! And he _did_, didn't he?"

"Yes _he did_. But _Optimus Prime _made a _decision _and he _stuck_ _to it_!" Suddenly Scavenger punched Hot Shot in the face before punching him in the stomach as well. "There's no future for _any_ of _us _if _we_ get caught in a _dirty_ fight _just_ for _revenge_!"

By the time Scavenger stopped punching him Hot Shot was holding his stomach. He could still feel the pain from being punched and it just hurt. And it wasn't just the physical pain, but all the overwhelming emotions that he felt. He was mad at the Decepticons, mad at the Autobots, even mad at the humans that lived on the planet he stood upon. He was mad at everyone. But most of all he was mad at himself. It was too much for him!

"What do I do?" He asked, shaking slightly. He was so confused, so angry, so sad. "I can't control these _feelings_ inside of me."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I felt tears start to form in my eyes from what I just witnessed. I could understand how Hot Shot felt. To blame yourself for everything even when it wasn't your fault. This all reminded me of my first mission and how I kept blaming myself for what happened to Optimus just because he was protecting me from getting killed. And despite Jetfire constantly telling me it wasn't my fault I still thought it was.

"This is _terrible_." Rad said. "Hot Shot is _blaming_ himself for _everything_."

"Even what happened to Optimus?" Carlos asked.

"That's the reason why Hot Shot's been so upset lately." Alexis said, holding the back of her hand up to her eyes sad she tried not to cry. "He thinks that he's let everybody down." She then turned to look at Jetfire again. "Jetfire, you gotta end this _now_."

"Scavenger _knows _what he's doing." Jetfire said calmly.

"I just wish he would go easy on my bro." Sideswipe said, breaking the silence that had fallen over us.

'_Why won't you stop them, Jetfire?_!_ You're the Vice Commander! Can't you see that this is only going to make things worst?_' I asked.

_**{I don't expect you to understand our reasons, but you need to realize that this is for Hot Shot's own good.} **_Jetfire told me.

'_How is this for his own good? Explain it so that I _can _understand!_'

_**{As you can see Hot Shot's anger has blinded him, making him want revenge against the Decepticons. The kid hasn't exactly had the best experiences when it's come to the betrayal of those he thought he could trust. Wheeljack is testimony to that since Hot Shot was his instructor and he thought that he abandoned him, causing him to join the Decepticons. You already know about Sideways and Starscream.}**_

'_So that's mainly why he so angry. Not only because he was angry at Optimus for trusting Starscream, but for trusting him himself._ _Can't you stop them now that Hot Shot realizes his mistake?_'

_**{No. He may realize his mistake and the fact that he blames himself, but the problem is that he thinks he's the only one that's suffering from the loss of Optimus. We need to make him realize that this has affected us just as much as it has for him.}**_

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot didn't have time to worry about his emotions since Scavenger punched him. Fear seized him when he saw that he had fallen off the edge of the unfinished road, but he managed to grabbed the edge with his right servo, leaving him to dangle helplessly. As if luck was on his side Hot Shot felt tiny servos grabbing a hold of his back and he instantly knew that it was Jolt as the Mini-Con managed to get him back on the road, where he was left hovering above the asphalt.

"You don't understand _any_ of this! My mission is to get _even_ with the Decepticons!"

"Listen, it's a mistake to take matters into your _own_ hands. You understand?" Scavenger asked, glaring at him before pointing a finger at him. "You'll become an _outcast_!"

Hot Shot growled quietly. He didn't have to deal with this! He didn't need his friends to help him take down the Decepticons! He could do it on his own with or without their aid!

"Transform!" He yelled, transforming into his alt mode before driving/flying across the huge gap to the other side of the incomplete road.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Whoa, Hot Shot has taken off!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Hey, look!" Alexis suddenly said after turning around.

We all turned around and my eyes widened in surprise. The Autobots were gone! I hadn't even felt Jetfire leave the room at all, but then I realized that he must've blocked his end of the connection from me. Again.

"Where'd everybody go?" Rad asked.

'…_Jetfire!_' I thought. If what I saw on the monitor of Hot Shot getting away from Scavenger was any indication, then the other Autobots were going to try and stop him.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot was glad to finally get away from Scavenger, but now it was just…quiet. It had never been this quiet whenever he drove down the roads besides the sound of his engine. It almost made him feel at peace, but with it came the thoughts that assaulted his processor. The thoughts he wanted to forget so much.

"Optimus, I wish you were here." Hot Shot said quietly. "You'd know what to do. I don't even know where I'm going. Ah!" Suddenly he felt something ram into the left side of his alt mode and he was shocked when he found who it was! "Blurr! What are _you_ doing here?"

Indeed it was Blurr who was driving next to him, but he was too close to him.

"_You're_ the one who _started_ this fight and _I'm_ gonna end it!" Blurr yelled as he kept ramming into the yellow mech.

"Go away. Leave me alone!" Suddenly Hot Shot heard what sounded like a car horn honking and he spotted a normal truck driving towards them. This was his chance to get away! "Go, Jolt! Go!"

With Jolt's help Hot Shot managed drive ahead of Blurr before driving along the side of the truck. This ensured that Blurr wouldn't be able to follow him.

"Hot Shot! Come back!"

Hot Shot ignored Blurr's voice as he drove down a ramp.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I ran down the hallway with the others as we rushed to the launching dock and by the time we got inside Sideswipe had already gone through the warp gate, making Jetfire, Red Alert, and Hoist the only Autobots left on base.

"What's going on_?_!" Rad asked, causing the three Autobots to turn to us as we ran inside the room.

"Hot Shot just needs a little time to think things through." Alexis stated. "Why can't you guys just give him a break. Please?"

"Sorry, it has to be done this way now." Red Alert said calmly.

"But it's just not right!"

Red Alert hummed as he nodded his head.

"You'll just have to trust us."

I find it a little hard to trust the Autobots at the moment. How could this be the only way to resolve this issue? There had to be another options, a compromise of some sort. Even if leaders had to make tough decisions there were always other options.

'_I'm begging you, Jetfire! Please stop this! If you guys keep this up it'll only cause him to push all of you away!_'

_**{No. It may seem like he needs time alone, but what he's really doing is running away. And we all know that running away **_**never **_**solves anything.} **_I heardJetfire sighed and I suddenly felt that he was melancholy. _**{I went through something similar 70,000 years ago after my mother was offlined. I had been so angry that I had actually wanted revenge against the Decepticons and I used that anger in all my other encounters with them during those years of fighting. Her funeral was held the day after she was offlined and I ended up going through depression. I knew there were friends around me that were willing to help, but instead of running I tried to drink my problems away with high grade energon, which is similar to what you humans call alcohol.}**_

I glanced at Jetfire to see that the expression in his optics never changed from the stern look they had, but I knew that he was physically hiding how he really felt. I was the only one who knew what he was really feeling.

'_There's more to it than that._' I stated.

_**{There is, but now isn't the time for that.} **_I felt slightly disappointed that he wouldn't tell me. He knew what I was feeling since I felt him reassure me. _**{I'll tell you once this mess is over with.}**_

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Despite how tired he felt Hot Shot never stopped. But he was surprised when he saw Sideswipe up ahead in his alt mode as he blocked the road.

"Sorry, bro, but I gotta do something about your _bad_ attitude. Here goes nothing. Transform!"

As soon as he saw Sideswipe transform into his bipedal mode Hot Shot was forced to slam on the brakes.

"_Sideswipe_!" He yelled.

But then the most unexpected thing happened. Sideswipe aimed his blaster at him!

"I'll shoot if I have to." Sideswipe told him.

"Don't be ridiculous! We're on the _same_ side!"

"You keep saying that you want revenge for what the Decepticons did to Optimus Prime. But as _usual_, you've gone off on your own without even considering how the rest of us _feel _about it."

This only made Hot Shot angry. He didn't have time for this!

"I don't need permission from _you_ to do _anything_!"

Hot Shot started driving at Sideswipe, not caring if he ran over his friend and brother.

"But bro!" Sideswipe protested.

"Outta my _way_!" He was taken by surprise when the Mini-Cons suddenly appeared and stood in front of Sideswipe as they blocked his way, forcing him to stop. "What is _this_! What do you guys _want_?"

The Mini-Cons started bleeping in response. Hot Shot saw there was no way around this now.

"Transform!" Hot Shot transformed into his bipedal mode. "Please. _Leave_." The Mini-Cons started to approach him and upon seeing this Hot Shot started backing away from them. "Stay back!" As the Mini-Cons continued to approach him Hot Shot suddenly saw the image of Optimus appear before him. He wasn't sure if he was seeing things or not, but he was too anxious to think about it. "Gotta help me, Optimus."

**"Don't give up on your friends, Hot Shot." **Optimus told him, his voice strangely comforting to the yellow mech. **"They're all you've got."**

The Mini-Cons stopped in front of him and he took a few steps back, only for Jolt to detach from his back.

"Jolt! Hey, get back here!" Hot Shot yelled, watching as his Mini-Con partner joined the other Mini-Cons that stood in front of him. "Jolt, how _could _you?"

**"Hot Shot... You must trust the Mini-Cons the way I did."**

"Huh?"

Hot Shot was suddenly reminded of the time when Megatron had ordered the Mini-Cons that he had to fire at Optimus, the very same Mini-Cons that ended up coming over to their side when they saw that he wanted to help them.

"_Ha, ha, ha! You're too soft to fight if the Mini-Cons are in the way." _Megatron had said

"Yes, it's coming back to me."

**"The reason we **_**got**_** into this battle with the Decepticons isn't to destroy them, our goal has always been to see our friends the Mini-Cons live a **_**free **_**life."**

'_That's right._' Hot Shot thought. '_That's what this is all about. Of course._'

"I can't believe the way I've been acting, you guys." Hot Shot said, spreading his arms out before getting on his knees. "I didn't realize it, but I've been fighting with you all like you're my enemies. I'm so sorry. I've been going about this whole thing wrong. I need your help, guys. All of you. I can't do this on my own."

The Mini-Cons stared at Hot Shot, but now he realized why the other Autobots were giving him a hard time. They were trying to make him understand that he was out of line, that he needed to see what his anger had blinded him from seeing.

"Hot Shot!"

Hot Shot turned to where he heard the familiar voice come from and he was slightly surprised to see not only the kids, but all the other Autobots as well. And they were all looking at him too.

"You _are _my friends." He said before standing up. "I don't wanna fight with you. _Any_ of you." Hot Shot turned to face the Autobots and the kids as they approached him. "I understand now. I guess I didn't realize how big an influence Optimus had on me. This has been a really big adjustment for me, but if you'll let me, I'd like to join the Autobots again... As, well, part of the team. I'm ready now. Let's free the Mini-Cons like Optimus wanted us to, okay?"

"Finally you understand." Blurr said, no hint of hostility in his voice.

"This has been tough on _all_ of us, Hot Shot." Jetfire told him.

"Huh?" Hot Shot was surprised by this.

"I think this has been the toughest time the Autobots have ever _gone_ through."

"Guys, you know what, this whole thing brought us closer. I know I sure feel better." Hoist said.

"Well, at least we're still on the same wavelength again." Red Alert commented.

Hot Shot sighed as he stared at everyone.

"So, are we _all_ in agreement about carrying out this mission?" Jetfire asked. "It's not gonna be easy."

"Yeah, we are." Hot Shot answered, turned to look at Sideswipe. "Right?"

"Right!" All the Autobots said as they nodded.

"Listen, if it's all right with you guys, I'd like to forget about today, okay? Y'know, I just wasn't thinking straight, that's all." Hot Shot felt a servo being placed on his shoulder and he looked up to find Jetfire standing in front of him. "Hmm?"

"Forget it. We're all starting with a clean slate."

Jetfire pulled his hand away, only for Hot Shot to suddenly see an image of Optimus replace the shuttle mech.

"**In times of crisis, you can accomplish a lot more with your friends by your side, then if you decide to go it alone, Hot Shot." **Optimus told him.

At this Hot Shot saluted.

"I won't forget that, Optimus-sir." Hot Shot promised.

"Sir?" Jetfire asked in confusion before laughing quietly. "Hey, the name's _Jetfire_."

Hot Shot realized that Jetfire was standing in front of him instead of Optimus and he suddenly felt silly for his mistake.

"Wow, either I'm overheating or I just heard Optimus speak to me directly from the other side."

"Hey, that doesn't surprise me. In _fact_, I bet Optimus would've chosen _you_ to become the next commander of the Autobots."

"Hahahaha…" Hot Shot noticed the kids laughing.

"_Me_, as the new Autobot _Commander_?" Hot Shot asked, completely surprised.

"I know it's what Optimus…would've wanted."

"_Really_?" Hot Shot couldn't believe this! Optimus would've wanted him to be the new Commander of the Autobots? This was just…unbelievable!

"Let's hear it for Hot Shot!" Rad exclaimed.

"Hot Shot! Hot Shot! Hot Shot! All right! Who's the man? You're the man!"

He wasn't sure if he should've felt grateful or embarrassed that the kids were cheering for him. Sure he enjoyed the attention when he was trying to impress him with his moves, but this was a completely different situation.

"Thanks... I _guess_." He said, sounding unsure.

"Hot Shot!"

"Huh?" Hot Shot turned around and was surprised when he saw Scavenger standing behind him.

"I believe we have some unfinished _business_."

Everyone stared at Scavenger, but suddenly the older mech let out a battle cry as he started charging at Hot Shot.

"No! No, don't do it!" Alexis cried.

"No! Scavenger, ya gotta leave him _alone_! It's _over_!" Rad cried as well.

"Errrrraaaauggghhhh!" Despite the fact that Scavenger was charging at him Hot Shot mentally smirked, not at all afraid of what would happen to him. He didn't even flinch when Scavenger's fist suddenly stopped right in front of his fact at the last minute and all was quiet…before the older mech grinned. "Heh. You didn't even _flinch_."

At this Hot Shot merely smirked.

"Of _course _not!" He stated.

"Yeah, you've got what it takes." Scavenger pulled his fist away from Hot Shot before letting it hang at his side.

"Aww, all right!" Rad said excitedly.

"Boy, I'm sure glad they're not fighting anymore." Billy said.

"Me too. That was more loco." Carlos agreed.

"And we're all friends again." Alexis said.

"_Are _we?" Fred asked, a devious smile appearing on his face. "Hyah!"

Fred lightly punched Billy in the cheek, causing the boy to scowl.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Billy asked.

"That was just my blood sugar acting up!" Fred started running away as Billy just as he started chasing after the fat boy. "I'm _sorry_, Billy!"

At this everyone started laughing.

"Let me help you run _off _your blood sugar then!" Billy yelled. "Get back here!"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Later that day everyone was back at the base and were all gathered in the command center. I stood with Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred while the Mini-Cons stood to our right and the rest of the Autobots stood behind us, leaving only Hot Shot and Jetfire to stand in front of us. I could see Sparkplug standing with the Mini-Cons as he held onto the Matrix.

"Attention Autobots!" Jetfire announced. "I hereby grant _Hot Shot _the Matrix of the Commander."

While he had said this Sparkplug had walked up to Jetfire while carrying the Matrix. By the time the shuttle mech had finished his announcement Jetfire bent down so he could to take the Matrix from Sparkplug before turning to face Hot Shot and holding the object out to him. The yellow mech turned to face Jetfire.

"Ohhh... Wait a minute!" Hot Shot said.

"Hot Shot's got a case of _nerves_!" Hoist teased.

"Just relax, bro!" Sideswipe said casually.

"_Excuse_ me?" Red Alert asked as he gave Sideswipe a look.

"Uh, that's right. Sorry about that, Commander." Sideswipe nervously saluted.

"Would you all just lighten up, _please_?" Hot Shot asked as he looked at everyone. Jetfire also looked over his shoulder at us as well.

"Why? What's wrong?" Rad asked.

"Oh, no." Alexis said quietly, looking worried.

"You're not…backing down, are you?" I asked.

"Listen, this whole _new Commander _thing sounds too formal to me. My name's still Hot Shot." The yellow mech told us sincerely. "I'll be the leader till we get back to Cybertron and _that's_ it, okay?"

"Right!" Red Alert agreed.

"Heh! You're a _class act_." Jetfire said lightheartedly. I could see the amusement in his gold optics and feel it through our connection.

"Oh, and let's keep the Matrix of the Commander in a safe place for now. I don't think I'm _quite_ ready to tackle that one just now, okay?" Hot Shot held his hand near his chest with his thumb pointing to where I assumed his spark was. "Instead, let's keep Optimus close to our sparks. All right?"

"All right!" We all agreed.

I think that was what everyone needed to hear. Even if Optimus was gone we would all never forget everything he's done for us and because of that his memory would continue to live on in our hearts. We're finally a team again and we were ready.

"Okay, we're gonna follow the Decepticons back to planet Cybertron and liberate the last of the Mini-Cons. So let's all get back to work."

"Yeah! Let's do it! Right on!" Hoist said.

"Too bad Optimus isn't here, 'cause I _know_ he'd love to be a part of this mission. Our teamwork would make him _really _proud." Red Alert said with a grin on his face.

"And with a leader like Hot Shot to guide us, I guarantee we'll be going all _the way_." Scavenger said, smiling. "We _can't_ be beat."

"We're _all_ in this together now, so let's complete this mission in _honor_ of Optimus Prime." Blurr said.

"All right." Hot Shot said, before suddenly getting energetic and shouting excitedly. "Yo, Autobots! Saddle up! We're heading back to planet Cybertron!"

And with that we all set to work as a team. Billy and Fred went along with the Mini-Cons to help Scavenger, Hoist, and Sideswipe move rocks, Carlos was with Red Alert and Blurr working on the ship, and Rad and Hot Shot were inside the spaceship. As for me? I was sitting with Alexis on a table as we looked over some blueprints and plans with Jetfire. I couldn't help but smile. We didn't have to worry about since she knew that we were sparkmates and we were both glad that she would keep our secret.

It was a good think that our morale went up when Hot Shot took command. I knew that from this point on the missions would be dangerous, but that didn't stop us from helping each other. Hot Shot was already doing his best as the new Commander of the Autobots and he wanted everything to be perfect before the Autobots went back to their home. To Cybertron.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

That night after everyone had managed to get a good amount of work done on the spaceship I ended up spending time with Jetfire gazing up at the sky outside the base. But instead of being right outside the base we had gone a little ways away from in so that we could be alone. The sky was so beautiful with all the stars I could see shining.

"What's space like?" I suddenly found myself asking.

"Well, for starters it's a lot different than what you're seeing right now." Jetfire answered.

I giggled.

"I figured that much." I turned to look up at him from where I sat beside him. "How have you been feeling? You're getting enough rest and drinking your energon, right?"

"I'm feeling completely and fine of course I've been drinking my energon! After what happened a few days I'm not planning on waking up in the med bay with all those needles injected into me again. That was the worse experience yet. I never thought that taking Optimus' place and doing his duties would be so stressful. I like being Vice Commander instead. So much less stressful for me."

"That's good. You had me so worried when you suddenly collapsed like that without warning." I sighed before leaning against his leg. "You promised you'd tell me the rest of what would happen. When you were going through your depression after Astera was offlined."

"Oh, that." Jetfire sighed before he picked me up in his hand and held me close to his chest right over his spark chamber so that I was warm. "You already know that I started drinking high grade energon in my depression. I can somewhat remember what happened while I was over-energized, or drunk, but I remember seeing you. Back then you hadn't been born yet so you didn't even have a name, so I ended up calling you Skydancer when I found you dancing in the sky in my dreams that night. You actually stopped me from trying to drink my sixth cube of high grade. Ever since that night I've never even bothered drinking more than one cube of high grade. I had the worst meltdown, or hangover, in my life, but then again it was the only one I've ever had since that had been the first time I've ever tried high grade."

"So that's where you got the name Skydancer from. I never thought it would have a deeper meaning than what I originally thought." I glanced up at the sky. "Do you think…I'll ever be able to dance among the skies?"

"To be honest? I don't really know. Maybe someday you might be able to. You never know, Skydancer. For now you'll have to stick with dancing on the earth." Suddenly Jetfire went quiet and I felt that he suddenly got an idea. He lifted me up and turned me around so that I was facing him as his gold optics gazed down at me. "Maybe you can."

This suddenly made me confused.

"What do you mean by that, Jetfire." I asked.

"I think I might've figured out a way to help you dance in the sky." Jetfire told me.

Before I could ask what he meant Jetfire suddenly took off into the sky. I was about to close my eyes, but then I remembered that I had regretted not having them open during the ascent last time and kept them open this time. Eventually Jetfire came to a stop and placed his free hand underneath the on he was holding me in before opening it. I ended up sitting in the palm on his open hand before the one he had previously held me in was placed next to the one I was in, making it so that he was cupping his hands together.

"Jetfire. Why are we up here?"

"You said you wanted to dance among the skies, right? What better way than to actually take you up here so you can dance. You don't need to me scared. You know I'll always catch you if you fall, remember?"

I was hesitant to stand up, but when I felt the comfort and reassurance that Jetfire was sending me I knew that I had to do it. I slowly stood up while being careful not to fall down. I wasn't exactly wearing my ballet slippers, but I could make due with doing the arm movements without standing on my toes. I took a deep breath before I started dancing slowly, moving my arms as I would if I were practicing my ballet. I still couldn't believe that I was really up here in the sky dancing like I was in Jetfire's hands. By the time I was done dancing I carefully went over to one of his thumbs before wrapping my arms around it in a hug.

"Thank you, Jetfire. This means so much to me and you didn't even have to do this for me at all."

"I know how much you liked it when I took you flying the first time, Skydancer. This is the least I can do for you since I love you so much."

I felt tears well up in my eyes from what he said and from feeling his love through the connection as well. I smiled, knowing that what he said was true.

"I wish there was something I could do for you." I said, feeling a stray tear start to fall.

"Just you being with me is enough for me. Anything else would be considered a bonus."

"A bonus, huh?" I glanced up at his face to see him gazing down at me. "How does staying with you tonight sound as a bonus?"

At this Jetfire chuckled.

"I was hoping you'd say that. I can recharge better tonight without having to stress over the additional duties I'd had to deal with this past week."

To make a long story short Jetfire ended up flying us back to base and I ended up sleeping in his quarters with his holoform laying beside me on the human sized bed. It felt so peaceful now that the stressful days were over with for now.

* * *

ATE: That's it for chapter 17 It's unbelieveable that there's probably 12 to 13 chapters left until the Armada section of TDATS is completed! To think that I started this story in February of this year too. I find it funny how I managed to use this story's title in this chapter. Anyways, please remember to review! ;D


	18. Depart

ATE: *Looks at time on laptop and eyes widen* It's that time already? YES! I get to finally say it! Merry Christmas everyone! And to celebrate I'll be posting this chapter as my Christmas present to everyone! I got this done this past week while I was on vacation and I'm glad with what I have. I have to thank **Autobot-Bre**, **Crystalmaiden62**, **SeekerLuna**, **Sailor Shinzo**, **Diamond White**, **Bumblebeecamaro38**, and **Taboo22 **for their reviews from the last chapter and anyone else reading this story to this point. Also, I'd recomment checking out **Crystalmaden62's** stories _Swan's Love _(which was something we happened to come up with together after one of her reviews on this story) and _Along in Unova _(which is a Pokemon/Doctor Who crossover story, and it's because of her that I ended up watching _Doctor Who_ now). I hope you all enjoy this Christmas present from me.

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, or Star Wars. I only own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

* * *

Chapter 18: Depart

A few days had passed since Hot Shot took charge of the Autobots and due to them along with myself and my friends, the Autobots' spaceship was finally complete. We were all glad that it was finished, but with it came the truth of the situation. The Autobots would be leaving along with the Mini-Cons. Jetfire would be leaving as well. And it made me sad. I know this day would eventually come, but I didn't think it would come this soon. I wasn't ready to say goodbye; I wanted them to stay. But then I realize how selfish that must've been.

At the moment I stood with Alexis, Rad, and Carlos near the wall as we watched Hot Shot and Scavenger (who stood behind the yellow mech) stood in front of all the Mini-Cons that the Autobots had collected.

"Uhhh, attention all Mini-Cons. I, uh, would like to introduce myself. I am, uh - my name is Hot Shot, your new commander. And, uh, I have some good news for you men. Because of all your hard work, the spacecraft has been completed and soon we will lift-off for Cybertron. Now, uh…"

I could tell that Hot Shot was nervous and seemed a little awkward.

"Boy, old Hot Shot sure is nervous when giving out orders." Alexis stated.

"Ah, he'll be fine once he gets the hang of it." Carlos said from where he stood leaning against the wall.

"C'mon, guys." Rad said. "Remember, he's _still _a rookie."

"This isn't working!" Hot Shot suddenly said, causing us to look up and see him scratching his head. "Okay, lemme try it another way."

At this Scavenger chuckled quietly in amusement.

"I think I'm gonna leave it up to you to decide your own stations. And, uh, if any of you decide to join us and help us defeat the Decepticons once and for all, then that's up to you. Oh, and, if you decide to stay back here on Earth, that's okay too."

So Hot Shot was giving the Mini-Cons the choice to either stay on Earth or go to Cybertron with them. The Mini-Cons seemed to get excited about this since they started bleeping among each other and the noise level went up to reflect that.

"It looks like things are getting a _little_ out of control." Scavenger stated, causing Hot Shot to glance at him before turning back to the Mini-Cons.

"C'mon, you guys! Settle down! Settle _down_!" The Mini-Cons suddenly stopped bleeping and stand at attention. "Okay, y-you don't have to make up your minds right away. I'll let you think about it for a while. Right now the only important thing is that we're all on the same page. Dismissed."

With that the Mini-Cons started leaving the room bleeping.

"Man, was that mixed up or _what_?" Rad asked.

"It's like you said, Rad, Hot Shot's still a rookie." Alexis said.

"The Mini-Cons don't know if they're _coming_ or_going_." Carlos stated. "And, hey, what about _us_? Can't we go _too_?"

"So, are you saying that you want to become a Mini-Con?"

"Huh?" At this Carlos looked at Alexis surprised. "Don't be _ridiculous_, Alexis. I was just _saying_, how come we have to stay _here_? Look, I wanna go _too_."

"Please, give me a break, Carlos."

"Carlos might be on to something, Alexis." I said. "It wouldn't hurt to ask, right?"

"True, but let's just wait and see."

I looked around and that was when I noticed Rad wasn't here.

'_Where did he go?_' I thought.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The next day I had learned from my parents that we were going over to Rad's house to have dinner with his family. At first I was surprised, but then I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to talk with him.

"Fueling completed." Hoist said, looking over at Blurr after inserting a fuel nuzzle in the side of the spaceship.

Upon hearing this Blurr looked over to Hoist.

"Roger that." Blurr replied before turning his gaze back to the controls he stood in front of. "Charging main batteries. Amperage at 3800 QWVs and rising steadily. Auxiliary batteries at 8600 QWVs and fully charged."

I moved my gaze over to where Jetfire stood (along with all the Mini-Cons helping out as well) and I could see Sideswipe pushing a cart around.

"Solid fuel cells go into the cargo bay." Jetfire said when Sideswipe walked in front of him. Sideswipe stopped to look at him.

"Yes, sir!" He said before resuming his work.

That was when I saw Billy run into the room with a backpack on his back while he carried a bag in his arms. He looked over his shoulder and I had the distinct feeling I knew who he was going to address.

"C'mon, move it, Fred! Hurry up!" Billy called over his shoulder.

Fred has a huge back that looks heavy.

"I'm coming, Billy, but the snacks I packed are heavy." Fred complained. I could see that he had a huge bag that had so much stuff in it that he had no choice but to drag it along the ground until he stood next to his friend.

"Well, did you at least pack a few _clothes_ in there?"

"Yep!" Fred was smiling like an idiot. "I've got my swim trunks and my jammies and clean underwear too!"

I stand corrected. He _was _an idiot. Why would he even need swim trunks when he'd be going into _space_?

"You _doofus_! We're going to _Cybertron_ and all you packed is junk food and underwear!" Thank you, Billy, for reflecting my thoughts in the form only you have mastered.

"Unfortunately, we _won't _be able to take you kids along with us." Red Alert suddenly said, causing Billy and Fred to look up at him in surprise.

"Aw, you're _kiddin'_." Fred said.

"Please, Red Alert?" Billy pleaded. "We're here to help you battle. You really think you can do it without us?"

"You _need _us."

"This isn't like one of your video games, boys." The blue mech explained. "This is serious and the Decepticons pose a _real _threat."

"Aw, gimme a break!" Billy look as if Red Alert's explanation was bogus.

"Yeah, besides, took me _hours _to find a clean pair of underwear!" I sighed. I have no comment.

"_Come on_!"

"And just _how_ do you suppose you can help us, hmm?" Red Alert asked.

"I make a wicked grilled cheese?" Fred said, although it sounded more like a question. He forgot that the Autobots can't eat food, let along _grilled cheese_.

"We could, like, _polish_ your armor or _sweep _your base." Billy stated. "We could do _all_ that kinda junk for ya."

"No dice, boys." Red Alert said, making it his final answer.

"Aw, that _bites_." Fred groaned.

"He's right." Sideswipe suddenly said and Billy and Fred turned to see him walk up to them. "To be perfectly honest, guys, I think you'd just get in the way aboard this ship. Sorry, but that's the way it is. You understand."

Billy and Fred nodded their heads and I could see the disappointed looks on their faces.

"Better get back to work, Sideswipe." Red Alert said

"Man, I can sure relate to Billy and Fred." Carlos commented.

"But I can also understand Red Alert's point." Alexis added.

"Y'know, it would be so cool to go with them and check out Cybertron." Rad said.

"Yeah, like that would ever happen in a million years." Carlos said.

"And if you think about it, there's _no_ way our parents would ever let us go with them." Alexis said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Rad said after a short pause.

But this only made me feel sad. If Billy and Fred weren't allowed to go with the Autobots, then what were my chances of being able to go? My friends didn't seem to notice me leave the room as I made my way outside. Maybe looking at the sky would help. When I made it outside I didn't sit down like I usually did and just stood there. I could feel the gentle breeze blowing as it managed to pick up a few strands of my hair. It felt nice, but I couldn't make myself forget what happened a few minutes ago. I know it may have been a little over a few months or more since I first met the Autobots and got involved in their war, but it felt like it was a few weeks or more like a few days. It went by so fast and I felt that it wasn't enough time. If only…I met them sooner, maybe I wouldn't feel this way.

'_But then it would make saying goodbye even harder._' I thought sadly.

And that was when I felt it. I didn't have to hear the footsteps or feel the ground shake slightly to know who was behind me. I sighed sadly, bowing my head slightly and causing my ash blonde hair to hang in my face.

"I wish you didn't have to leave." I said quietly.

I heard him sigh as well.

"You know I can't do that." He told me. "As much as I want to stay here, I have my duties to fulfill."

"Then…" I lifted my head up before turning around to face him. "Then take me with you."

I watched as his gold optics express sympathy as he gazed down at me. My heart clenched slightly and I felt my throat tighten a bit as tears started to form in my eyes.

"You know I can't do that either. And it's not because you would get in the way. I would feel more at ease knowing that you stayed here where it's safe."

"But what about Sideways?" I asked, placing a hand over my heart. "What if he comes for me?"

"You don't know that. How do you know he'll come for you?"

"How do you know he won't come for me? Don't think for a moment that I haven't worried about him doing so. I can't help but think he'll be coming for me soon, when I least expect it." I started shaking slightly and hung my head so that I could hide the tears that started falling. "I'm scared… I'm scared that Sideways will come and you won't be there to stop him from taking me away. I've always felt safer when you're around, but I won't if I just stay here on Earth while you and the others leave for Cybertron. You got to take me with you, Jetfire! You just got to!"

I couldn't stop myself from crying as it all just came out. I hate the fact I was being so emotional right now and it didn't help that I was scared of the possibility that Sideways would end up coming for me. I couldn't imagine my life without the Autobots or Jetfire. It wasn't fair that I found my sparkmate, only to have him leave me. It was too much. I couldn't handle all the sadness I felt-

"I know this is hard for you, Skydancer. This is hard for me as well and I'm not ready to say goodbye either. Remember what I told you about all leaders having to make tough decisions? Well this happens to be one of them for me right now. Maybe even the hardest one I've had to make. You know I would do anything to keep you safe and this is the only way I could think of doing that. I love you too much to lose you now, so that's why I made this for you."

Before I knew it I found myself staring wide eyed at the gold necklace dangling in front of my face as Jetfire held it out to me between his index finger and thumb. The pendent reminded me of a cartouche, but instead of being thick (width-wise) it was thin, looking similar to a cross without the horizontal bar running through it, almost like an obelisk of sort. And on the pendent was the name 'VALERIE' engraved vertically down the length of it. I lifted my shaking hands up to take it from him and I was surprised at the weight of the deceivingly small pendent as soon as it was in my hands.

"Y-you made this for me?" I asked, my voice quiet.

"Yeah. I worked on it in my spare time while you weren't around."

"I like it, but I don't deserve something like this."

"Of course you do. It's something special that I made for someone that's as equally special to me. Let it be something that'll remind you of me."

I couldn't stop myself from crying then and there as fresh warm tears fell. I closed my hands around the necklace and held it up to my heart just as I bowed my head to let my hair hang in my face. I soon felt warm arms wrap around me and I knew Jetfire was using his holoform to hold me. I wrapped my arms around his waist before burying my face into his chest, just before he started humming the Cybertronian Lullaby to me. No matter how many times I heard the song I've always found myself loving it just as much as the person humming it to me.

By the time Jetfire finished humming he pulled back slightly before gently grabbing the hand I held the necklace in before taking it from me. I was confused as to what he was doing until he placed the necklace over my head so that it rested in front of my chest. I glanced down at it, seeing the gold pendent shine in the sunlight before looking up into Jetfire's face. I could see the love in his gold eyes just as I felt it through the connection.

"To think that it all started here between us." He said. "Our first conversation after I found you practicing your ballet in the rec room that morning. You remember, right?"

I nodded.

"I was very shy and nervous back then. But then you came and helped me. "I said.

"I did. And I must say you've come a long way since that day." He then held me close. "Even when I'm away I'll always come back to be by your side. You're gonna be that little light that's gonna keep me going in the dark."

Little light… That's what I was going to be. I stood on my toes before placing my lips on his to kiss him. Jetfire responded and leaned forward a bit so that I wasn't standing on my toes anymore. I slipped my tongue into his mouth and I felt his slight surprise through the connection before he curled his around mine. After awhile we pulled apart and I found myself gazing into his eyes.

"I'm going to miss you when you're gone." I breathed out.

"I know." Jetfire agreed before placing his forehead against mine. "I'll miss you too, Skydancer."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

When I got home later that day I was confused as to why Mom and Dad were getting ready, but then I remembered what was happening tonight.

'_Oh, right._' I thought. '_Dinner at Rad's house_.'

"…that necklace?"

I shook my head as I realized Mom was looking at me expectantly, causing me to feel confused.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?" I asked.

"I was asking you about where you got that necklace." Mom told me.

"A friend gave it to me." I answered, feeling my face heat up slightly.

"Let me guess: Jason gave it to you."

I lowered my gaze to the floor, smiling a small smile as my face got warmer. I wrapped my left hand around the gold pendant, something I started doing ever since Jetfire placed the necklace around my neck. I had a feeling that this was going to become a habit now.

"Yeah, Jason gave it to me. He actually made it for me." My voice was quiet as I recalled what happened a few hours ago between Jetfire and I. That moment that I knew was most likely our last one.

"That's so sweet of him. He's a good boy." Mom replied.

After getting ready my parents and I got in the car and headed for Rad's house. Instead of looking at the sky like I usually did I gazed down at the pendant that had my name engraved on it. I noticed that the color reminded me of Jetfire's gold optics, precious and full of value. The chain of the necklace itself was so long that I could just place it over my head instead of clasping and unclasping it, and even then the pendant rested a bit below my heart. I made a promise to myself, that I would always wear it. I have a feeling Jetfire would've wanted that. I wrapped my left hand around the pendant. I was going to really miss him when he was gone.

By the time we arrived at Rad's house his mom was almost done making dinner so Rad and I took that opportunity to talk in his room. I wasn't the least bit surprised by its condition.

"Sorry 'bout the mess." Rad said sheepishly.

"It's fine, but you really should clean it once in awhile." I told him.

"I can't believe the Autobots are really leaving." His voice was quiet so that our parents couldn't hear us.

"I know. It isn't fair that they don't want us to come. We've been a part of their war for so long and now they're leaving us behind as if there's no longer any use for us."

My hand wrapped around the pendant as if on reflex. Rad must've noticed my actions along with the fact I was wearing the necklace Jetfire gave me.

"Did he…give you that?" He asked.

I felt my heart skip a beat.

"Who?" I asked, playing dumb.

"Jetfire. Did he give you that necklace?"

I was quiet as I averted my gaze. There was no way Rad could possibly know about my relationship with Jetfire. The only ones who knew were Optimus (but he was dead), Alexis, Starscream, and Scavenger. Unless Alexis told him, but she would never to that to me. She promised!

"What's going on between you and Jetfire?" He tried again.

"Rad, there's nothing going on between me and Jetfire. We're just friends." I told him, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"You sure? There have been a few instances between you and Jetfire that suggest otherwise. There was that one time when Jetfire left the base when he got your letter saying you were grounded. Then that time he got jealous when he heard about your secret admirer. And then today when he left the room when he realized you left. That doesn't sound like you're both _just friends_."

No. This couldn't be happening. Had Rad really picked up on that? Both Jetfire and I had tried so hard not to make it seem so obvious that we were in a relationship. What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say?

"Supposed that something _is _going on between you two, what is it exactly?"

"It's…" I sighed quietly, looking away from Rad and gazing out the window. "It's complicated. Let's just leave it at that for now, please? I really don't want to talk about it."

"So there _is _something. You'll tell me someday, right?"

"Maybe." I turned back to face Rad. "So what do we do?"

"I was thinking of telling my parents about the transformers. Even if the Autobots don't want us to come, I'm gonna try and convince them to take us. We both know that they need us to help them, more than ever."

"Rad, you realize that would mean we'd be leaving _Earth_ and going to _Cybertron_, a planet that could more than likely be in a galaxy far, far away."

At this Rad laughed.

"Nice Star Wars reference. Even if my parents don't believe me I'll still go. I'll even pack tonight if I have to. You're coming as well since you're just as much a part of this as Carlos, Alexis, Billy, and Fred."

After having dinner with Rad and his family my parents and I went home. I knew that Rad was right. My parents had to know about the transformers, especially since they had unknowingly been in the presence of one via holoform.

"Mom? Dad? I have something I really need to tell you." I said when we were inside the house.

"What is it, Valerie?" Dad asked.

"You might not believe me, but please bare with me."

I took a deep breath in order to calm myself down.

'_Jetfire. If there ever was a time I needed you to reassure me, now would be it._' I thought.

I was surprised when I felt his reassurance and the warmth that came with it.

_**{You're taking a big risk in telling them.}**_ He told me. _**{I shouldn't be letting you do this, you know? Even if Optimus is gone, orders are orders.}**_

'_I know. But they have a right to know. Especially when their safety is involved._'

Jetfire knew what I was talking about and he sent me another wave of reassurance before he went away. It was now or never.

"Remember when the comet exploded? That was because it was destroyed by a weapon. There are these group of giant alien robots called transformers and they come from a planet called Cybertron. But the transformers are in their own civil war that's been going on for millions of years and are divided into two factions. There are the Autobots, who are the good guys that want to protect all life, and there are the Decepticons, who are the bad guys and their leader, Megatron, wants to take over the universe by using the Mini-Cons. My friends and I teamed up with the Autobots and that's what I've been doing, helping them. The Decepticons were the ones that destroyed the comet. And right now I have to go with the Autobots to Cybertron so I can help them."

I felt my heart sink as soon as I saw the looks on Mom and Dad's face. They didn't believe me, but then again I should've expected this.

"That would make a nice science fiction novel, you know?" Mom said.

"Mom! I'm not making this up at all! You have to believe me!" I said. "I wouldn't lie about something like this!"

"And why is it that you believe this to be true?" Dad asked.

I sighed. I knew that my only proof was the picture I took of Jetfire when Hot Shot and Sideswipe pulled that prank on him. I pulled out my cell phone and brought up the picture, and what was even better was that I managed to get Carlos, Billy, Fred, and Rad in it to show scale size and showed it to my parents,

"See this picture? This hasn't been edited in any way at all. The one with the pink paint dumped on him is Jetfire, the Vice Commander of the Autobots. The yellow one is Hot Shot and the last one is Sideswipe. The reason why Jetfire has pink paint on him is because the other two pulled a prank on him."

My parents had wide eyes as they looked at the picture on my phone.

"They're real?"

"Yes! You actually met Jetfire. You remember Jason Flynn, right?"

"Jason Flynn? That was this Jetfire?" Mom asked. "But he was just a human boy your age!"

"The reason why he was human was because he was using his holoform, which is this kind of hologram that's solid like a _real_ human. He changed his holoform's appearance so that he would look like my age. He's really 270,000 years old, which by human standards would be 27 years and that's what his holoform's appearance really looks like."

"Wait, so you're dating a giant alien robot that's 268,986 years older than you_?_!" Dad asked.

Oh shit! Forgot that Dad approved of Jetfire dating me when he still thought he was a 14 year old boy. Stupid, Valerie! I just had to dig myself a bigger hole!

"N-not exactly…" I said quietly.

"What do you mean 'not exactly'?" Mom asked.

Great! Now the metaphorical hole was growing in size. As if what I'm going to say next would make it any better.

"I-I'm his sparkmate. Meaning I'm practically engaged to him and have been before even _he _was born. The transformers have this deity called Primus, who could be literally compared to God from the Bible since he created them. And he's the one who predetermines who a transformer or person is sparkmates with, similar to an arranged marriage. Everything I told you about him as Jason Flynn is true, though. Even the part with him being jealous about the secret admirer I had."

"Even if what you say about you being engaged to a giant robot is true and that he's only 27 years old by human standards, he'd still be physically 13 years older than you in this holoform you mentioned. It wouldn't work."

"Mom, he's not going to age a human year until 10,000 years from now. And we made a deal to wait until I was older and finished with all my schooling, college included if it comes down to it." I was somewhat relieved that they believed me now. "I'm the only one left that he's fighting for now. He lost his father when he was 5 by human standards, and he lost his mother when he was 20, 2 years after he went away to join the Autobots, and that was something he witnessed when the Decepticons attack him in his own home _while _he was on leave."

"So he was telling the truth about what happened. But his mother…" Dad trailed off.

"You see? You have to let me go to Cybertron with the Autobots. Not just to help them, but for your sake as well. I want you to see that I can be more than just the shy and unconfident girl I've been most of my life. Please!"

I saw the concern and thoughtful looks Mom and Dad had as they looked at each other before turning back to me.

"If this is important to you as you make it sound, then you can go." Dad said. "But only if you tell Jetfire that we want him to protect you. He's the only one we've met so he's the only one we trust."

"Thank you. This means so much to me."

I was so happy that my parents were allowing me to go to Cybertron and I spent my time packing my backpack with what I would need (my essentials like clothes, toiletries, my camera, cell phone, iPod, and chargers) before going to bed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_It was strange that I found myself standing inside a spaceship, or better yet the Autobots' spaceship since I could see Blurr and Sideswipe sitting in what I assumed was the bridge. I fell to the floor when the ship started shaking and I could hear the loud alarm going off while red lights blinked on and off. What was going on?_!_ I was too scared and confused to hear what was being said. I could see the Mini-Cons running and the ship was on fire! The ship shook violently again and I started screaming when I saw the wall I was close to being ripped apart and I was sucked through the huge hole and thrown into space. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and held my breath in a futile attempt of staying alive. I heard an explosion that I knew was the Autobots' ship being destroyed and I opened my eyes to see that there was nothing left of it, no Autobots or Mini-Cons there at all. I suddenly remembered I was in space and gasped on reflex, only to find that I could…breathe? Hoe was I able to breath when I was in space? There shouldn't be any oxygen at all!_

'Although I'm not going to question it._' I thought._

_It was then that I noticed something looming through space that looked to be some ball with a ring going around it vertically. As it got closer to where I was it got bigger and my eyes widened as I realized it wasn't a ball, but a giant moon of sorts-no! It wasn't a moon at all! It was mechanical object and I suddenly felt fear flood through me from it's presence. I know something about it was bad and I felt as if I was staring at the end of all life and the universe itself._

_Suddenly metallic object started to change and I was frozen in place by fear as I saw that it was a giant transformer that was orange with red optics, and I could see that it had huge wings. It suddenly turned to me as he (I assumed it was a he) slowly reached his large hand out to me to grab me._

"_Soon…your time will come…" His deep voice boomed._

_I screamed and shut my eyes as his hand closed around me, but then my eyes shot open and I realized I was alone in the dark void. No giant transformer, just me. I clutch the gold pendant tightly with my left hand as I started shaking in fear from what I saw. Who was that giant transformer I saw? I suddenly heard the familiar evil chuckle that I knew too well as it came from behind me._

_**{So it would appear you caught a glimpse of the Chaos Bringer.}**_ _Sideways said, sounding amused._

_I was too scared to turn around or move. The giant transformer was the Chaos Bringer? That sounded more like a title than a name, but just the sound of it put me on edge._

_**{You are right to fear him, sweet Valerie. After all, Unicron will be all that remains when the universe is gone.}**__ Before I knew it Sideways was standing in front of me and I felt my blood run cold when he placed his hand on the side of my face. I wanted so much as to pull away, but I couldn't. __**{But you will share a part in his glory, for you play a special role in all of this.}**_

_My eyes widened as I realized what he was talking about! I was going to play a part in the end of the universe!_

"_N-no!" I said quietly, my voice shaking. "I-I won't! I-I refuse to be a part of this!"_

_Suddenly I found Sideways' hand wrapped around my neck tightly as he held me off the ground. I couldn't breathe! I couldn't breathe! I didn't have to look at his pink optics to know that he was angry. A jolt of pain ran through my body and I let of a strangled cry as a result._

_**{You can't refuse.} **__He said darkly, his voice low in order to intimidate me (which it did). __**{I told you that from the very beginning and still you try to escape your fate. Maybe I need to remind you what's at stake if you continue to defy me. Where to start…}**__ Sideways trailed off as if thinking something over. __**{There's your parents, that femme Alexis, or better yet your sparkmate Jetfire. All of them are good choices since you're close to them. I think I'll start with your parents. You shouldn't really miss them since they've always left you alone due to their jobs.}**_

"_NO!" I cried out. "Don't kill them! I'll do anything! Just don't kill them or anyone else!"_

_I knew this was what he wanted to hear since he chuckled._

_**{I knew you would see things my way, sweet Valerie. You're a smart femme to know that the lives of everyone you care about rest in your servos. You'd do well to remember that.}**_

_Sideways' grip on my neck loosen and I was dropped on the ground gasping for air. But it was short lived when he knelt down in front of me before lifting the pendant of my necklace up as if to observe it._

_**{So he made you this little trinket?}**__ It was more of a statement than a question. __**{That foolish Autobot doesn't even realize that he's only making things easier for me.}**_

"_Don't take it."_

_I was honestly worried that he would break the chain just to take the necklace from me. It was too precious to be destroyed._

_**{Why would I do that?}**__ He asked rhetorically. __**{I'll let you keep it, but only because it will fuel the fire so to speak. Just remember that you still have your end of the deal to uphold.}**_

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I woke up with a start, but then I realized it was morning. That's right! I was leaving today! I quickly got out of bed, got dressed and got ready by packing the remaining items in my backpack before heading downstairs. I said a quick goodbye to my parents before leaving my home and decided to head over to Alexis' house. I found it funny that I saw her leaving her home as well and she was struggling a bit with her huge brown bag that I knew had the things she packed.

"Alexis!" I called and got her attention.

"Valerie!" She replied before making her way over to me. "You're going, too?"

"Yes. Are you okay carrying that? I could help."

"It's okay. I think I got it. Thanks for offering though."

So with that I went with Alexis as we walked down the street in the direction the Autobots' base was. Eventually Alexis had to stop due to the weight of her bad, which she placed on the ground and knelt down beside it.

"It weighs a ton." Alexis said. Just then Rad and Carlos appeared and the former took the chance to grab Alexis' bag, causing her to look up at him. "Huh?"

"Let me get that for you, Alexis." Rad offered.

"Thanks, Rad."

"You going somewhere, Alexis?" Carlos joked, causing her to turn to him.

"Morning, Carlos. Well, it's nice to see we're finally on the same wavelength around here."

"And you know what that means." I said, smiling as Alexis stood up.

"Yes, we're going!" She said cheerfully, looking over at Rad. "We're _actually_ going!" At this Rad and Carlos laughed. "C'mon, guys. Let's get this show on the road." And then she started walking off.

"Yessir." Rad and Carlos said at the same time.

"I think you mean 'yes ma'am'." I stated before laughing.

_(1 hour later)_

I stood with Alexis, Rad, and Carlos in the shadows of the doorway that led into the room that had all the Autobots and Mini-Cons along with the spaceship. The Mini-Cons were all lined up in front of Hot Shot while Sideswipe and Scavenger stood on each side of him.

"Good morning, men. It's time to get your answer to my question yesterday in regards to those who want to stay on Earth and those who want to join the battle on Cybertron." Hot Shot said, to which the Mini-Cons looked at each other while bleeping. "Those who volunteer to come with us, please take one step forward."

It was then that I noticed High Wire looking at us before all the Mini-Cons stepped forward one by one. One last Mini-Con bleeped in confusion as he looked around before deciding to step forward.

"That's a hundred percent." Scavenger said.

"Thanks, guys." Hot Shot said quietly, sounding grateful. "Okay, let's get every last one aboard the ship. And once we're loaded, we are outta here."

"Hang on!" Rad yelled.

"Huh_?_!"

It was at that time that we came into the room with our stuff.

"Hey, Hot Shot, we're coming with ya." Rad said with a determined look.

"_No_ way. This mission is far too dangerous. And it's in your best interests to stay put here on Earth."

"We understand that, Hot Shot, but we've decided that we _have _to fight alongside the ones who saved our planet from destruction. And now you _need_ us even more to help look after the Mini-Cons. We're gonna see this battle through to the end, and do whatever it takes to win."

"Well, I hear what you're _saying_…"

"Well then?"

Rad looked hopeful, but we all did as well. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Jetfire looking at me with a stern yet disappointed look.

_**{Valerie, I thought I told you that I didn't want you to come.}**_ He scolded.

'_I know, but I _have _to! You know Rad has a point as well!_' I told him.

"Yeah, all right!" Carlos cheered.

"However, you still must stay here." Hot Shot said.

"You're kidding!" Rad exclaimed.

"I'm real sorry." And he sounded like he was, too.

It was quiet and High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor started bleeping before combining into Perceptor. Suddenly they started making this shrilly high pitch sound that was similar to an alarm of sort before the other Mini-Cons did the same and started running off towards the spaceship.

"Hot Shot! What's going on?" Sideswipe asked. The Mini-Cons started running into the ship. "Bro, what's happening with the Mini-Cons?"

It was then that Red Alert appeared in the doorway of the ship as the Mini-Cons ran past him.

"Would someone please explain the situation?" Red Alert asked. "We need a translator here, because the Mini-Cons are taking over the bridge."

There was a group of six Mini-Cons that were sitting on one of the wings.

"Argh! We'll never be able to lift-off with them _clowning_ around all over the place." Jetfire said exasperated before trying to approach the group of six Mini-Cons, only for him to step back when the bleeped angrily with their optics suddenly glowing red as the shuttle mech held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, I didn't mean to call you _clowns_."

By this time all the Mini-Cons stood in front of the ship as they created a barricade. Their message was unclear and it confused us to no end.

"All I said was we weren't gonna take the kids along and the Mini-Cons went _nuts_!" Hot Shot stated.

"Well, we're not _going_ anywhere either, so what's our next plan of attack gonna be, Hot Shot?" Red Alert asked.

"Well, my official answer is, I don't know."

"Humans come with us." This surprised us all when Perceptor started…talking! And he now stood in front of the rest of the Mini-Cons. "Humans... Come."

From beside me I could hear Alexis gasp in surprise.

"They can _talk_!" Carlos exclaimed.

"But the Mini-Cons were never programmed to talk, were they?" Hot Shot asked.

"H-hey, Hot Shot…" Sideswipe said, turning to Hot Shot who did the same. "Maybe I should take…the kids to a safer place. Just in case the Mini-Cons rebel."

"Thanks, bro." Hot Shot muttered dully, as if Sideswipe didn't trust his ability as a leader.

"He's right." Jetfire said, causing Hot Shot to look over at the shuttle mech, who stood next to Hoist with his arms crossed. "If we can't protect _kids_, how are we supposed to be able to protect the _universe_?"

"Yeah, I agree." Hoist commented.

"It's your call, Hot Shot. But you've _gotta_ put an end to this mutiny." Blurr said.

"What do we do now..._Captain_?" Scavenger asked. I could see that he had an amused expression on his face as he tilted his head to the side.

Hot Shot sighed."I don't know." Hot Shot said before the Mini-Cons started making that noise again and he looked up. "Huh?"

"Ergghh!" Sideswipe grunted as he placed his hands over where his ears or audio receptors were in order to block out the couldn't help but feel confused by this.

"Alright, already!" Hot Shot yelled. "I've changed my mind, the kids can come along. Now would you _stop _that irritating whistle?"

As if those had been the magic words the Mini-Cons stopped making that noise before bleeping and looking victorious. I couldn't believe it! This whole time the Mini-Cons wanted us to come along!

"All right, we're going!" We exclaimed excitedly.

Perceptor separated into High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor and they ran over to Rad, Alexis, and Carlos respectfully before my friends hugged them. I could tell that they were happy as they laughed.

"Yes, we're going! We're actually going!" Alexis said before laughing.

I looked over to where Hot Shot and Scavenger were and could see the baffled look on the yellow mech's face.

"I don't _believe_ this." Hot Shot said.

"I don't know if it's the right choice." Scavenger stated, his arms crossed.

Hot Shot turned to him before glancing back at us.

"You just might be right, Scavenger. But I think it's _exactly_ what Optimus would've done."

_**{Looks like you're coming after all, Skydancer.}**_

I turned to where Jetfire was just as I felt his happiness through the connection. I smiled at him as I wrapped my hand around my pendant.

'_I am._' I said.

_**{I get the feeling you had something to do with this.}**_ He teased.

I giggled quietly.

'_Are you trying to blame me for the Mini-Cons revolting?_'

_**{Maaaybe.}**_

_(30 minutes later)_

My friends and I were boarding the spaceship with the Mini-Cons as we carried our belongings with us. Now that I thought about it where were we going to stay while on the ship?

_**{No need to worry, Skydancer! You'll be sticking with me room-wise.}**_ Jetfire told me.

'_And where is it?_' I asked.

_**{As soon as you're inside go right down the hallway before coming to an intersection. Go left at the intersection and continue going down the hallway until you come to the second door on the right. That'll be my personal quarters.}**_

'_Thanks, Jetfire._'

"No _fair_! How come _you_ guys get to go?" I stopped where I was and turned around in time to see Billy and Fred running into the room with their stuff. "Come on! You gotta hold up! Please, please, please!"

"It's Billy! And Fred!" Carlos said.

Off to the side I could see Hot Shot and Red Alert overlooking everything from the platform they were on. Hot Shot was leaning over the railing while Red Alert stood behind him with his arms crossed.

"Well, Hot Shot?" I heard Red Alert ask, obviously referring to Billy and Fred rushing to catch up with us.

"Yeah, like I have a _choice_." Hot Shot stated.

I giggled quietly before turning back around and heading inside the ship, following the directions Jetfire gave me in order to find his quarters. I eventually found it and entered to find that it looked similar to his quarters on the base. I wasn't sure where I should place my stuff so I just left it against the wall near the door. That was when the ship started moving and in my surprise I grabbed the closest stable object and squeezed my eyes shut as I held on for live. I suddenly felt comfort and reassurance in my mind and I knew it was Jetfire.

_**{It's okay, Skydancer.} **_He told me soothingly. _**{The Axalon is just being launched out of the base.}**_

'_The Axalon?_' I asked, relaxing a bit from Jetfire's presence.

_**{It's the name of our spaceship. We'll be leaving Earth soon.}**_

My eyes widened in surprise as I realized what this meant.

'_You mean I'll finally get to see what's beyond the skies and among the stars?_' I thought of the lyrics of the Cybertronian Lullaby.

I could feel his amusement and happiness through the connection.

_**{Yeah, and you'll get to see Cybertron in quiet wait. Although I doubt it'll be quiet when we get there.}**_ I felt the ship shake a bit and my grip tightened. _**{Don't be scared, Valerie. Just keep talking to me and you'll be fine.}**_

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down and I registered what Jetfire was telling me. He was trying to help me by keeping me distracted.

'_Will I be able to see your home where you used to live with Astera?_' I asked.

At that I felt the nostalgia Jetfire had when I mentioned his mother, but then I felt a soft warmth.

_**{Maybe.}**_ He answered. _**{If not I'll try to show you someday.}**_ I suddenly felt a little lighter and I could hear Jetfire laugh. _**{Well, I can officially tell you that we're in space. But before you go check it out, you might want to get your new spacesuit on.}**_

It was then that I noticed the white spacesuit hanging on the wall, which happened to have a bit of red on the shoulders and what looked to be a button on the left side of the collar. I carefully got the suit on and I noticed how comfortable is was to wear. Experimentally I pressed the button on the left side of the collar and I was surprised when a helmet came over my head and oxygen started circulating through the suit. Going through my bag I pulled out a mirror and saw that the helmet I wore was white with a purple outline on it. I pressed the button again and the helmet came off and retreated into the suit. This was a neat suit.

With that out of the way I left Jetfire's quarters and made my way to the hallway that had a window and that was where I found Alexis, Rad, and Carlos with High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor. I was completely mesmerized by the view of the Earth from space as the Axalon flew away from the planet. It was so beautiful. I can't believe I was here. I felt like I was dreaming. I was in space and I was going to Cybertron.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

It's weird not knowing what time it was while in space, but I went back to Jetfire's quarters and entered just as he came out of the huge door I assumed was the refresher and felt my face heat up slightly. He merely chuckled at this before coming over and picking me up in his hand.

"I'm starting to wonder if your reaction to me coming out of the refresher is gonna be a common occurrence." Jetfire joked, causing my face to get warmer. "Aw c'mon, Skydancer! I'm only messing with ya! No harm meant by it!"

"Sorry." I said.

"Now, Valerie. I told you that you don't need to constantly apologize, especially when you haven't done anything to warrant an apology."

"Sor-I mean okay."

"That's better."

Jetfire started moving over to the nightstand near his berth and I could see the familiar bed sitting on its surface while my backpack was placed right next to it. He placed me on top of the table and knelt down before his holoform materialized in front of me. I immediately went up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist in relief, taking him by surprise. Jetfire recovered and wrapped his arms around me.

"I told my parents about who you really are and about us." I told him.

Jetfire pulled away slightly with a surprised look on his face.

"You told them?" He asked. "How did they take it?"

"They took it better than I thought after I proved that you guys were real."

"And how did you do that?"

"With the picture I took on my phone."

I took out my phone and Jetfire's eyes widened when I showed him the picture of when he still had the pink paint on him.

"I can't believe you took this!" Jetfire exclaimed. "You didn't get my good side."

I giggled at this.

"Not only are you over-confident, but you're vain?" I teased. "I didn't think you'd worry about something like that."

"Look who's joking now." He grinned.

I merely shook my head laughing.

"That aside. Dad told me to tell you that he and Mon wanted you to protect me and that they trust you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Skydancer. If they're trusting me to keep you safe then that what I'm gonna do." I yelped in surprise when Jetfire suddenly scooped me up in his arms and carried me over to the bed. "Starting with getting you to bed."

"First I need to get ready for bed, Jetfire." I stated. "And I think you also need to get your real form on your berth so that you're not in that same position all night."

Jetfire realized that I was right and lowered me onto the table before turning around so his back was facing me. I got out of my spacesuit and stripped out of my clothes before getting my Pjs on. When I was done I stood on my toes in order to tap his shoulder and I was taken by surprise at how fast he turned around to face me. I soon found myself being carried bridal style before being lowered onto the soft mattress. Jetfire was about to in when I stopped him.

"You're forgetting something." I told him.

Jetfire sighed before his holoform disappeared and I could see his gold optics activate from where I was. He got up from his kneeling position before going over to his berth and laying down on top of it. His holoform soon appeared again, this time without his jacket and shoes before he joined me in bed and gathered me into his arms as he laid beside me. I felt so warm and comfortable that I felt my body relax.

"I don't think I have to worry about being cold." I said quietly. I breathed in and noticed the way Jetfire smelled. "You smell clean."

"Of course I do! I just came out of the refresher, remember?" He chuckled. "And that was also a very random thing to say."

I smiled.

"Leave it to me to be random." I sighed. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Jetfire leaned his head closer to my face and kissed me before resting his forehead against mine. "Not get some sleep, Skydancer. I'll even hum the Cybertronian Lullaby to you if you want."

I nodded in reply before I closed my eyes. I fell asleep listening to him humming to me.

* * *

ATE: And there you have it. As for the necklace that Valerie got from Jetfire, it's an actual necklace I have and I actually took multiple pictures of it and put them together on deviantart so that you could all see what the necklace looks like. Here's a link (without spaces, of course):

_**http : / aerith -the- evenstar . deviantart . com/ art/ Gold -Pendant- 275 634 525**_

Thank you for reading and please remember to review. ;D


	19. Miracle

ATE: Why does this keep happening to me? I know that the last time I updated was Dec. 25 and it took me this long to finally finish this chapter. Anyways, thanks go out to **Diamond White**, **Crystalmaiden62**, **Sailor Shinzo**, **SeekerLuna**, **DarkButterfly128**, **Autobot-Bre**, **Manderss.x.x**, and **Bumblebeecamaro38 **for their reviews. Speaking about reviews I just realized that this story now has 107 reviews total! I gotta thank everyone for that now. So as you can see, this chapter is covering the evens of Episode 42 (Miracle), so for those familiar with Armada, you should know what going to happen in this chapter. Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OC Valerie.

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Chapter 19: Miracle

The next day had me standing with my friends as we gazed at the Earth through the window we stood in front of. Apparently from all the progress that had been made so far we could still see it. The planet itself was so beautiful and it was nothing like what I've seen in pictures. Even though it was beautiful it still looked so fragile, so small among the black space surrounding it. I knew we would return someday, but for now we had to stop the Decepticons.

"Well, goodbye Earth. See ya soon." Carlos said as we got farther and farther away from it.

"Don't worry, bud. We'll be back." Rad said reassuringly, causing Carlos to looked over at him. He then turns to Carlos. "The day the battle on Cybertron is over, that's the way we'll be coming back to Earth."

"Yeah. One day." Alexis said, sounding slightly sad or homesick.

Suddenly I heard what sounded like Billy crying slightly and we all turned to see him holding his head in frustration. Fred was looking up at him while munching on a chocolate bar…and he had some of it on his face.

"What's up with you, Billy?" Fred asked.

"Stupid me! I forgot my video camera!" Billy cried.

"What a drag."

"Now nobody's gonna believe we were in _space_!"

"Hey, maybe _this'll _cheer ya up, Billy." Fred then brought out his green Video Pal and held it up. "I brought along my Video Pal to play."

Billy looked over, but then he furrowed his eyebrows.

"You forgot to bring along the cartridges, ya _doofus_!" Billy stated.

I mentally face-palmed myself at this. Of course, only Fred could accomplish something this stupid.

"Aw, you're just jealous." Fred said while turning away slightly.

At this Alexis turned to Billy and Fred with her hands on her hips and a angry expression on her face.

"Hey, you guys! Would you put a lid on it? We're having a _moment_ over here!" Alexis scolded.

I couldn't help but giggle slightly at this. I took this time to bring out my camera.

"If it makes you feel better I brought along my camera, Billy. Fully charged and functional." I told him, causing Billy to turn to me.

"Really? Great! Now we can use it to prove we were in space now!"

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Jetfire stood to Hot Shot's right as he observed the bridge and everyone in it. Everyone was at their stations and no problems so far.

"Nothing unusual to report on radar, sir." Sideswipe announced.

"And engines running at full thrust, Hot Shot." Red Alert said.

Jetfire then looked over at Red Alert.

"Red Alert, lock up to our warp co-ordinates, _stat_." Jetfire told him.

"Roger that."

"Focus, gentlemen." Hot Shot said before turning to Hoist. "Hoist, how does your new name fit your new reformatting?"

At this Hoist looked at Hot Shot.

"It fits just fine, Commander." Hoist said.

Hot Shot then turned to Sideswipe.

"Sideswipe, how about bringing up Earth on the main monitor for us?"

"You've got it, bro." Sideswipe said, glancing at the yellow mech over his shoulder.

Sideswipe did as he was ordered to do and soon Jetfire could see Earth on the main monitor. He could still remember the day he first arrived on Earth and how he didn't really think much about it back then. But after everything he went through whiling he was still on the planet he had a new perspective of it. This beautiful blue planet that glowed in space was Valerie's home world, the place she was born and raise. To think that not so long ago the Decepticons were planning to destroy it.

"Ahh... What a beautiful planet." Blurr said in awe.

"Yeah. It will always be a special place for us. Especially for Optimus. I guess you could call it our second home." Hot Shot said before saluting. At this everyone started to salute as well and Jetfire joined in as well as he paid his respects to Optimus. "We'll never forget you. You'll always be commander to us, and we salute you, Optimus-sir."

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Megatron sat on his throne on the Decepticons' ship with his head propped up on one of his servos.

"Unbelievable." Megatron suddenly said, which caused Thrust to turn around to face him.

"Pardon, sir?" Thrust asked.

"I can't believe Prime would sacrifice himself for such a meaningless planet." Out of the corner of his optic Megatron saw Starscream give him a quick side glance. "I _thought_ he was more _intelligent_, but I _suppose_ I was dead wrong in my assessment of that _fool_." He then turned to Demolishor. "Demolishor!"

"Uh, sir!" Demolishor replied as he turned to Megatron."Exactly where are the Autobots now?"

At this Demolishor was confused.

"Which Autobots, Megatron?"

"Don't play games!" Megatron sat up straight in his chair. "You tell me _precisely_ where they are and on the _double_, soldier!"

"Uh, yes, sir!" Demolishor saluted him. "At last report, they'd just left Earth, but appear to be closing the gap at a phenomenal rate, sir."

"Don't worry, Megatron. They'll never catch up with us." Thrust said, trying to sound reassuring. "Soon, we'll reach our warp co-ordinates and then we'll be _home_!"

"Silence!" Megatron yelled and Thrust took a step back in surprise. "Did I say I was _worried_, Squidhead_?_! The Autobots, without Optimus Prime, are no more of a threat to me than a common _housefly_!"

"My sincerest apologies, sir. We will _not _concern ourselves with their craft and we'll prepare instead to warp."

With that Thrust turned around to face the console he stood in front of. Wait a minute. Housefly. They were annoying, yet they were easily dealt with. That was when Megatron got an idea.

"Turn us around." Megatron said calmly.

"Eh, what_?_!" Thrust looked at Megatron in surprise.

"The time has come…to swat that fly."

"B-but sire... We've almost reached the warp co-ordinates. May I suggest we continue-"

"-Enough!" Thrust flinched. "I gave the order, now _do_ it!" Megatron turned away. "Time to eradicate those good-for-nothing Autobots and their toys for good."

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Sideswipe was sitting at his station in the bridge when he noticed something yellow appear on the radar.

"Hmm…" He turned to look at the radar to see what the yellow thing was, only to find nothing at all. "Must have _imagined_ it." He turned away, but then he thought he saw more yellow appear and quickly turned back to the monitor with wide optics. "Or _not_!"

"What's up, Sideswipe?" Red Alert asked, turning to Sideswipe.

Sideswipe swirled around in his chair to look at Red Alert.

"Radar's picked up some unidentified bogeys coming at us." Sideswipe told him.

"You sure?"

"Do you think they might be Decepticon ships?" Hoist asked.

Hot Shot looked over at Hoist.

"Let's not jump to any conclusions." Hot Shot said before turning to Sideswipe. "Sideswipe, turn on the main monitor."

"Yessir!" Sideswipe answered.

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Out of the corner of my eye I noticed High Wire walking closer to the window as he bleeped. I turned to look at him and I could see the confused look on Rad's face.

"Hey, what's wrong with High Wire?" Rad asked.

As soon as I heard Grindor I turned to see the Mini-Con was doing the same thing as High Wire.

"Dude, what's up?" Carlos asked as he moved out of Grindor's way.

I turned to face Alexis' general direction and saw that Sureshock was acting the same way as High Wire and Grindor.

"Is something wrong?" Alexis asked.

Rad stared at High Wire in confusion before turning to look out the window.

"Hmm... Say, maybe they're - sensing something." Rad said.

What was going on? I don't understand why High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor were acting like this. Did they know something that they weren't telling us? Now I was confused as to what was happening.

"Hhh!" Rad suddenly cried out. I looked over at him and I saw the surprised look on his face as he stared out the window. I turned to the window and I could see why. Outside there were glowing green orbs of light started appearing as if they were surrounding the Axalon. "Look, it's like we're under attack!"

There were so many of them floating around the Axalon. Just how many of them are there?

"Oh wow! They - they look like fireflies." Alexis said.

Now that Alexis mentioned it, they do look like fireflies."I don't think they have fireflies in space." Rad commented.

"Maybe their space fireflies." I stated.

"What are the odds of that?"

"Friends." High Wire suddenly said and we all turned to the Mini-Con, who ended up turning to face Rad. "Yes, they are friends."

"Uhh.…" Rad seemed to be confused at first but then his eyes widened in realization. "Hey! They're friendly!"

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Jetfire was just as confused as everyone else as he saw those lights on the main monitor. Just what were they? Sideswipe zoomed in on one of the lights and everyone was surprised to see the outline inside the orb of light.

"Those are Mini-Cons!" Hot Shot exclaimed.

"Boy, that's strange." Hoist said. "I never knew it was possible to detect Mini-Cons on our radar system."

"We can, Hoist." Red Alert stated. "When they turned on their signal beacon transmitter."

At this Hoist turned to Red Alert.

"But how did they all get here?"

"Why did they all come to meet us, Red Alert?" Hot Shot asked after turning to Red Alert. The medic turned to look at the yellow mech.

"I believe the Mini-Cons aboard our ship broadcast a signal to which other Mini-Cons responded."

"It's amazing the bond the Mini-Cons have between each other. Totally amazing." Blurr mused.

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"You mean each one of those lights is a Mini-Con?" Rad asked.

"Cool! But why are they buzzing around like that?" Carlos asked.

"Aw, man. It looks like every Mini-Con in the universe showed up here." Billy said.

High Wire bleeped and Rad to turn to him.

"Gee, High Wire. Did you call them all out?" Rad asked, causing High Wire to turn to him and bleeped. "Here to battle?"

"Hey, I got it. They all showed up to battle alongside the Autobots!" Carlos assumed, looking at Grindor.

Grindor turned to Sureshock bleeping and Sureshock did the same.

"What's the matter?" Alexis asked.

High Wire bleeped and I couldn't help feeling confused. What was he saying?

"High Wire?" Rad asked.

"Hey, dude, what's he saying?" Carlos asked as he looked at Rad in confusion.

Rad looked at Carlos.

"Haven't got a clue." Rad told him before turning back to High Wire. The Mini-Con turned Rad. "What's wrong?"

It was quiet before High Wire spoke.

"Enemy." The Mini-Con said.

"What?" Rad looked confused.

We were all confused and I could help being confused as well.

"Aw, man, I don't like the _sound_ of that." Billy said.

"Yeah, no kiddin'." Fred agreed.

I don't know why, but I got the feeling that this wasn't good. And why do I have the feeling I knew what it was.

High Wire bleeped, turning face Rad completely before lifting his hand up, along with Sureshock and Grindor.

"What, you wanna high-five?" Carlos asked, sounding confused.

I watched as Carlos lifted his hand up to Grindor, followed by Alexis and Rad doing the same with Sureshock and High Wire, but what happened next surprised all of us. A bright light appeared as soon as my friends' hands made contact with the three Mini-Cons and I was forced to cover my eyes from the light. What's going on?

Before I knew it the light disappeared and I uncovered my eyes to see that Rad's eyes had widened in surprise and he took a step back from High Wire.

"What - was that for?" Rad asked, looking like he saw a ghost or something.

"Unicron." High Wire answered after lowering his hand.

My eyes widen in fear as I felt a sense of dread inside me. I couldn't stop myself from remembering the dream I had of the metallic moon changing into that giant transformer. No…! Not Unicron! Not that horrifying monster that Sideways showed me. I wanted so badly to grab the pendant of my necklace, but my spacesuit prevented me from wrapping my hand around it.

"Unicron?" Alexis asked.

High Wire turned back to the window and he gazed at all the other Mini-Cons floating around outside the Axalon.

"Man, I'm totally lost." Carlos said.

"Is this Unicron a person or a thing?" Billy asked.

"Yeah, what?" Fred added.

Alexis gasped as she realized something.

"Wait a minute! That's _who_ he meant by enemy!" Alexis stated.

"Ah! Are you saying this Unicron is coming down here after you guys?" Rad asked.

High Wire bleeped as he turned to face Rad and this caused the boy to look uneasy.

If what Alexis and Rad said was true then Unicron was coming for the Mini-Cons. And that also meant that Sideways would be coming for me soon! I felt sick to the stomach because of this.

"It sounds like this freak is meaner than Megatron!" Billy exclaimed. "What're we gonna do?"

"I wish Optimus were here right now." Carlos said, sounding sad.

"Huh? Uh…" Fred then turned to look out the window. "Hey, look." Fred said, causing Billy to look out the window. "You can't see Earth anymore."

"It's okay…" Alexis said, trying to sound reassuring. "Valerie? What's wrong?"

I turned to Alexis and I could see the concerned expression she had on her face.

"Nothing. I'm fine." I told her. "I just need to get away for a bit that's all."

I decided the leave and started walking down the hallway. I was so worried that Jetfire might find out about my thoughts so I blocked them from him. He couldn't know about this or Unicron. I didn't want him to worry about me. I went around the corner and sat down against the wall with my before placing my head in hands. I started shaking when I suddenly heard Sideways chuckling in my mind.

_**{Your time will come soon, Sweet Valerie.} **_He told me, as if it were a dark promise.

At this I felt a few tears fall from my eyes.

'_How soon is soon?_' I couldn't help but think fearfully.

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"Aw, how come we have to go back, anyway?" Cyclonus complained.

Upon hearing Cyclonus complain Wheeljack looked at the insane Decepticon over his shoulder.

"Because Megatron said. Now quit asking stupid questions." Wheeljack answered before turning back to the console he sat in front of.

From his throne Megatron observed the exchanged between Cyclonus and Wheeljack before looking back at the main monitor with a frown on his face.

"I don't know why, but the thought of you infuriates me, Optimus." Megatron said quietly to himself.

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In the bridge the alarm started going off. Jetfire knew that wasn't a good sign.

"I've locked on incoming and they're closing in fast!" Sideswipe announced.

"Betcha anything it's the Decepticons." Hoist assumed as he looked over at Jetfire.

"Maybe not." Jetfire told him as he looked over at his friend. "Why would they send out such a huge fleet after us?"

It was at this time that Rad, Alexis, Carlos, Billy, Fred, and Valerie ran inside and Jetfire knew that they heard the alarm as well.

"Hot Shot! Hot Shot! Are they Decepticons?" Rad asked.

"We're still analyzing the data, Rad." Hot Shot said as he looked down at Rad with his arms crossed.

"Bro!" Sideswipe called, causing the yellow mech to look at him. "It's just an asteroid field!"

"Are you serious?"

Hoist looked over at Red Alert.

"Oh, great. Let's fix that radar." Hoist said.

Red Alert turned to Hoist.

"Let's not let our guard down yet. There could be enemy spacecrafts camouflaged inside the asteroid debris." Red Alert said before turning to Blurr. "New course, Blurr."

Blurr turned around in his chair to look at Red Alert

"I'm on it! No one's gonna _touch_ this ship." Blurr said before turning back around to face his console. After awhile Blurr turned back to Red Alert. "Red Alert, increase power one more factor."

"Roger."

Blurr turned back to his console as he stared at the main monitor.

"I can do this." Jetfire could hear him say quietly before he raised his voice a bit to address them. "Buckle up, boys. We're going for it!"

Jetfire had to admit that Blurr was doing his best as he maneuvered the Axalon through the asteroid field, but suddenly they all saw that they were heading for an asteroid. He could feel Valerie's anxiousness and glanced over at her to see that she looked just as anxious as she felt at the moment.

"Hey, what are ya doing, Blurr_?_!" Carlos cried out.

It seemed that at the last minute Blurr made the Axalon tilt slightly to avoid hitting the asteroid along with a few others. It was quiet as he listened to the bleeping sounds that came from Blurr typing at his console.

"Steady, Blurr, steady... Keep focused…" Blurr said quietly to himself. As the Axalon continued avoiding asteroids Jetfire noticed that the Mini-Cons outside the ship must've been following them still.

'_At least it's a good thing they've decided to stick around._' He thought.

"Oh no! It's getting thicker. Hang on!" Blurr yelled just as the Axalon narrowly missed hitting an asteroid. At that time Jetfire saw that the floating seat Fred was sitting in was spinning around wildly due to the ship's movements. "What the?"

It was at that time that the Axalon suddenly started shaking uncontrollably and everyone knew that an asteroid must've hit them. Hoist then turned to look at Blurr.

"Hey Blurr, where'd ya learn to drive?" Hoist asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Sorry guys." Blurr said sheepishly.

Jetfire glanced at Valerie and sent her some reassurance through their connection so that she could know that things were going to be fine now. He could feel her gratitude as she held onto that reassurance as if it were a lifeline of sorts.

"It looks like - we're almost clear of the asteroids." Red Alert announced.

Suddenly the alarm on the radar started going off and Jetfire couldn't help but wonder what it was now?

"I've got bad news, boys." Sideswipe said, turning around in his chair. "Just detected an enemy ship!"

"_Now_ what_?_!" Hot Shot yelled before turning back to the main monitor. Jetfire did the same thing and felt himself tense up slightly when he spotted the Decepticons' spaceship, which started firing at them and made the Axalon shake. "It's time to get ready for battle, men! Red Alert, I want you to stay put and make sure the kids are safe!"

"Yessir!" Red Alert replied as he stood up.

Jetfire was making his way towards the door to leave with the other Autobots when he felt Valerie's concern and he knew right away that she was worried about him.

_**{Please be careful, Jetfire.}**_ She told him.

Jetfire reached out to her through their connection as a small smile formed behind his face mask.

'_Don't worry, Skydancer. I'll be careful and I'll make sure to come back in one piece._' He said

With that he left.

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"Gentlemen, annihilate that Autobot ship and don't leave any evidence behind!" Megatron commanded before standing up from his throne. "_Attack_! And _swiftly_!"

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After Jetfire left Rad, Alexis, Carlos, Billy, Fred, and I ran over to Red Alert.

"Red Alert!" Rad called before we stopped near the chair Red Alert was sitting in. "We came down here to give you a hand."

"Okay, listen closely, kids." Red Alert said, looking at us. "I want you to keep an eye on the Decepticon ship."

"Alright! You got it!"

We started running off, but then Alexis stopped. I was about to ask her why she stopped but then I noticed High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor talking to each other before they ran out of the room.

"No, wait! You can't do this all by yourselves!" Alexis cried before running after them.

I wasn't sure if I should go or not, but in the end I decided to follow Alexis out of the bridge and down the hallways that High Wire, Sureshock, Grindor went down. After awhile we took a right turn at an intersection in the hall, only to stop when we saw all the Mini-Cons running past us and moved out of the way so that we were against the wall.

"Hey, hang on, you guys!" Alexis said and I could see the confusion on her face. Her eyes widened when she saw the last Mini-Con (who happened to be red) that ran past us. "Junk, not you too!"

"We have to tell the other, Alexis." I said.

Alexis turned to me and nodded her head.

"You're right." Alexis agreed.

With that we went back to the bridge where we found the boys sitting in the seats that were floating in the air slightly.

"The Mini-Cons did _what_, Alexis?" Rad asked after we explained what happened to him.

"They headed straight for the warp gate platform." Alexis told Rad.

"They're doing what they're programmed for." Red Alert suddenly said, causing us to look up at him. "And we need their help."

It was quiet until Carlos turned to Rad.

"C'mon, Rad, we've got a job to do." Carlos said.

Rad turned to Carlos and nodded.

"We do." Rad agreed."Look! It's the Decepticons!" Fred cried out.

We all turned to the main monitor and we saw that Fred was right. The Decepticons were here.

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Jetfire was flying around in his alt-mode when he saw Thrust flying towards the Axalon and firing at it.

"You're all _mine_! Hahaha!" He overheard the Decepticon say as he fired at the ship. "You won't win this battle if that's the best you can do!" That was when one of the Mini-Cons manning one of the Axalon's turrets shot at Thrust and he got hit before transforming. "Are those Mini-Cons firing at _me_?"

Jetfire took that chance and started flying at Thrust, all the while firing at him.

"You're mine, pencilhead," Jetfire yelled before flying past Thrust. "Yeehaw!" Thrust then transformed and tried to fly off. "Oh no, you don't!"

Jetfire made a U-turn and started going after Thrust.

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"Ahahaha! Woohoohoohoo! It doesn't seem like work when you _love_ your job!" Cyclonus shouted eagerly.

As Cyclonus fired at Blurr, the blue mech was able to dodge the blasts without any difficulty.

"Enjoy it while you can because you're about to be _terminated_!" Blurr yelled.

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Hot Shot could see the familiar form of Starscream's alt-mode flying past him and the yellow mech jumped after him.

"Hey, ya traitor!" Hot Shot yelled. "It's nice to _see_ ya again!"

At this Starscream transformed and took out his wing sword before he and Hot Shot charged at each other. The yellow mech used his arm to block Starscream's sword before pushing him back slightly and punching the traitor in the face.

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Megatron was observing the battle as he landed on top of an asteroid. He gripped the handle of the Requiem Blaster tightly in his servo.

"Would you quit fooling around and get this over with sometime _today_?" Megatron yelled as he lifted the Requiem Blaster up a bit.

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Scavenger had managed to successfully pin Demolishor down on the asteroid they were on after having overpowered him.

"That's it. I'll give you till the count of three to get off of me." Demolishor demanded as he struggled to get Scavenger off of him.

"Like you can count." Scavenger retorted, smirking."Out of my way, Demolishor!"

Both Scavenger and Demolishor looked over in the direction the familiar voice came from to see Megatron aiming the Requiem Blaster at Scavenger.

"What? No!" Scavenger said. Despite his outer appearance, he felt fearful as he recalled what happened to Hoist before he became Hoist.

"Yes. The Requiem Blaster!" Demolishor said.

"Heads up." Megatron casually before firing.

Both Scavenger and Demolishor barely got out of the way of the blast. But Scavenger knew that Demolishor got off easier than he did since the older Autobot was sent flying before landing on an asteroid damaged. He tried to recover from the impact, but it was difficult. He was lucky to still be alive and not extensively damaged like Hoist had been.

"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!" Scavenger looked up when he heard Megatron laugh and he saw that the Decepticon leader was nearby. "Just like shooting fish in a barrel. With one shot from my Requiem Blaster, you will be reduced to space dust."

Suddenly someone shot at Megatron and the Decepticon looked to see Sideswipe charging at him as he fired, letting out a battle cry.

"Not if I can help it!" Sideswipe yelled.

"Heh, you'll be next." Megatron sneered. Megatron aimed the Requiem Blaster at Sideswipe and fired. Sideswipe tried dodging the blast, but he was sent flying into a nearby asteroid. Megatron smirked. "They don't build Autobots like they used to." That was when he spotted the Axalon. "Heh, heh, heh. Time to sink a battleship. Heh, heh, heh…"

"Megatron!" Megatron looked over and spotted Hot Shot. "Sorry, but now ya got _me_ to get past!"

"Hahaha. I enjoy a challenge." Megatron aimed the Requiem Blaster at the yellow mech. "However, I must say you're a poor substitute for Optimus Prime."

"Oh yeah? Well go ahead and bring it on, Megatron." Hot Shot yelled.

Megatron chuckled at this.

"So, any final requests, Autobot?" Megatron asked, lowering the Requiem Blaster. Hot Shot remained quiet, not saying anything. "I'll take that as a no. Now, let's get this over with."

Suddenly Megatron used his hip cannon to fire at Hot Shot and the yellow mech was sent flying. Before Hot Shot knew it he found himself laying on an asteroid damaged when Megatron approached him.

"I remember the good old days when fighting Autobots was a _challenge._" Megatron said. Hot Shot lifted his helm to look at Megatron. "Heh. You are _so_ pathetic."

It was then that Megatron aimed the Requiem Blaster at the yellow mech.

'_Great._' Hot Shot thought. '_Looks like this is the end of my career as new Commander._'

It was then that Megatron seemed to notice something since he looked to his right.

"Now what?" Megatron asked.

"What the?" Hot Shot asked weakly.

Hot Shot looked over in the direction Megatron was looking in to see a big glowing green orb of light fly into Megatron and knock him away from the yellow mech.

The glowing green orb flies into Megatron and knocks him away. This must've taken the Decepticon leader as he recovered, just in time to see the green light stop in place.

"Identify yourself!" Megatron growled. The orb of light dimmed slightly enough to show Sparkplug holding the Matrix, causing Hot Shot to gasp quietly. "A Mini-Con?"

"That you, Optimus?" Hot Shot asked, looking at Sparkplug.

"I don't have time for your _holographic tricks_!" Megatron then aimed the Requiem Blaster at Sparkplug. "Whoever you are, show yourself or perish now!"

Suddenly the orb started glowing brighter to the point that it was a blinding white light, causing Megatron to cover his optics from it.

"It's over, Megatron!" A familiar voice declared.

"Ugh... It can't be!" Megatron said. The light started dimmed slightly to show a familiar outline, one the Decepticon leader never thought he'd see again. "N-no... It's - it's some kind of trick!" the outline then threw its arms out and the orb of light seemed to shatter as if it had been made of glass. The outline got easier to see and Megatron aimed the Requiem Blaster at it. "Optimus!"

Suddenly the outline of Optimus clasped his hands together before pushing them out at Megatron, sending a blast at the Decepticon leader that sent him flying. The only thing that stopped Megatron from flying through space was the asteroid that he was slammed into.

"No! Impossible! This has to be some kin of Autobot illusion!"

The light that concealed Optimus form disappeared to reveal that he looked as good as new, as if he had never offlined at all.

"No illusion, Megatron! I'm _back_ and I'm gonna finish this." Optimus stated.

At this Megatron growled before aiming the Requiem Blaster at Optimus.

"Sorry, Prime. But - you're all mine this time."

Suddenly Optimus went into Super Mode and combined with Sparkplug before firing his blaster at Megatron. The place it the Decepticon leader directly before a bright light appeared.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I couldn't believe it! I blinked, even rubbed my eyes, but the image was still there on the main monitor. It was Optimus!

"Optimus is back!" Rad exclaimed. "This is _amazing_!"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Megatron was floating through space, but despite the fact that he just lost this battle he was smiling a small smile, all the while chuckling quietly before laughing out loud.

"I never thought I'd say this, but it's good to have you back, Prime." He said, for once feeling glad that Optimus was back.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

This was unbelievable! I never thought I'd seen Optimus again after what happened during the incident with the Hydra Cannon. But he was back and we were all happy to see him. It was as if the Mini-Cons outside the Axalon knew that this would happen and managed to bring him back at just the right time. Now Jetfire and the other Autobots wouldn't be sad anymore.

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ATE: That's it for chapter 19. I'll have an interesting time writing chapter 20 and coming up with ideas as to what will happen in it. Tomorrow is the start of my spring semester in college and I'll only have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so updates to this story may come more frequently now.

Please remember to review! ;D


	20. Puppet

ATE: This may have taken me awhile to write, but I'm glad with what I came up with here. I wanna thank **SeekerLuna**, **Crystalmaiden62**, **Autobot-Bre**, **Bumblebeecamaro38**, **Sailor Shinzo**, and **Diamond White **for their reviews of the last chapter, and for **Crystalmaiden62** for the idea she gave me for this chapter. This chapter covers the events of Episode 43 (Puppet), and I actually found this chapter interesting to write for reasons you'll soon find out. Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OC Valerie.

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Chapter 20: Puppet

"So my old friend Optimus Prime is _alive_ once again. How interesting. Ha, ha, ha." Megatron stood outside the Decepticon ship, but the strange thing was that he was smiling, something that he rarely did except on a few rare occasions. "He's as stubborn as ever and he refuses to admit _defeat_. Hahahaha... Hahahaha!"

Cyclonus and Demolishor stood a good distance away from Megatron and they couldn't help feeling confused as they watched him laughing.

"Has Megatron blown a _circuit_?" Cyclonus asked, completely dumbfounded. "What's he so _happy_about? Optimus Prime's alive again, right?"

"Yeah, he is." Demolishor answered. "But I'd rather see Megatron like this than screaming his head off at us, Cyclonus."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point there."

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I felt like I was dreaming as I stood outside the Axalon with my friends off to the side on Optimus' left. The rest of the Autobots stood in front of the newly resurrected Autobot leader. I still couldn't believe that Optimus was back. He was really back!

"Welcome back, Optimus Prime." Hot Shot said as he saluted his leader.

"Welcome back, sir!" All the Autobots said as they saluted.

"Thanks, men." Optimus said as he saluted in return. "At ease."

Optimus lowered his and one by one the Autobots lowered their hands as well.

"This is a real miracle. It's sure good to see you, sir. I never thought we'd see you standing in front of us again."

"Are you one of those _mirages _I've read about?" Fred asked as he looked up at Optimus.

"Yeah right, Fred." Alexis said dully, looking over at Fred with her hands on her hips. "I think you need glasses."

At this Optimus chuckled as he turned his gaze to Fred.

"Don't worry, Fred. It's the _real _me." Optimus told him reassuringly.

"The Mini-Con Spark restored you, Optimus-sir. That combined with your need for peace that was stored in the Matrix brought you back to us." Red Alert explained. "I believe that has to be it. After all, it was a miracle."

"Yes, the Mini-Cons..." Optimus sounded thoughtful as he turned to Red Alert. "Those mysterious lights - I remember now. They guided me here."

I looked up at the Mini-Cons that were flying around the ship, their green light reminding me of shooting stairs.

"If those lights are the Mini-Cons, they've been following our ship. And they must be coming from all over outer space." Rad concluded. "I guess they want to return to Cybertron too."

So that was why the Mini-Cons were following the Axalon. After thinking it through my head, I found that it made sense. I could hear Hot Shot gasp quietly in awe.

"Hot Shot." Optimus called, causing the yellow mech to look at him. "Was it your decision to bring the kids on this voyage?"

"Yes, sir. It was." Hot Shot answered.

"Optimus!" Rad said. "It's my fault. I convinced Hot Shot into letting us come to Cybertron."

Optimus turned to Rad.

"There's no need to apologize, Rad." Optimus told Rad before turning back to Hot Shot. "The Mini-Cons _and_ the Autobots want you to stay safe. I would have made the _same_ decision."

Alexis was about to say something, but then she must've noticed something.

"Hey, what's going on?" Alexis asked.

I turned to see what Alexis was looking at and I saw that the Mini-Cons were acting weird, as in the trail of green light they had was swerving in vertical serpentine style.

"The Mini-Cons are acting kind of funny." Carlos said.

"You're right." Hoist agreed. "Something's got them spooked out there."

I suddenly heard something weird like the sound of electricity and I turned to look to see what it was, only to have my eyes widened at what I saw!

"Whoa! What _is_ that_?_!" Rad exclaimed.

I didn't know what it was, but it looked to be some sort of black hole, which happened to have electricity sparking like crazy.

"Everyone inside! Now!" Optimus ordered. We all started running for the doorway that led inside the Axalon as fast as we could. "Move it! Let's go!"

I yelped when I suddenly tripped as I tried to make my way for the doorway, but it didn't seem like anyone noticed. I looked over my shoulder to see that the hole was getting bigger, but despite my mind yelling at me to get up and run for it I could make myself get up at all. It was like I was rooted in place because of fear. That was when I saw that Carlos got caught by the electrical tendrils and it started slowly pull him towards the black hole.

"Oh no! It got him!" Red Alert yelled before running to Carlos. He managed to catch him in his hand before the blue mech fell to the floor as if the electrical tendrils were pinning him down. "Get outta here, Carlos."

"I'm gone!" Carlos yelled before making a run for it.

That was when the electrical tendrils started to pull Red Alert towards the black hole.

"Oh no! Red Alert!" Hot Shot yelled.

I watched as Hot Shot ran past me and tried to grab a hold of Red Alert's hand in order to pull him back. That was when the yellow mech ended up getting caught as well as they were now being pulled closer to the black hole. I tried to get up and make a run for the doorway, but I was suddenly caught by those electrical tendrils and being pulled towards the black hole. I cried out in fear since I knew there was nothing I could do to stop myself from being dragged closer.

"Valerie_?_!" I heard Hot Shot cry out.

Before I knew it two metallic hands grabbed me and I found myself trapped inside them before they moved close to something.

"Brooo!" Sideswipe heard yelled.

"No, Sideswipe!" Optimus yelled.

"Bro! Come back!"

I didn't know what was going on and I felt fearful since I didn't know whose hands I was in. I couldn't see what was going on and that only fueled the anxiety I felt. Even if I couldn't see anything, I could still hear the sparking sound getting louder and louder as we got closer to the black hole.

'_Jetfire!_' I thought desperately before everything went dark.

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Consciousness started returning to me and I found myself lying in an uncomfortable position, but seeing that I was still trapped inside the metallic hands there wasn't exactly a way around this. I slowly started to sit up as I tried to gain my bearings to see that the inside of the hand seemed to be on its side. What happened to us? I couldn't see anything since the hands around me were blocking the outside world from me. I suddenly had a bad feeling, but I dismissed it as my fear of the unknown. Whoever's hold I was in wasn't doing anything, so I started banging my fists against the inside of their metallic hands.

"Let me out!" I yelled, still pounding my fists despite the fact they were starting to feel sore. "Come one, please let me out!"

I don't know how long I kept this up, but eventually I felt whoever holding me start moving. I heard them groan quietly as the hands I was trapped in seemed to move away from something before the hands suddenly opened up and the sudden light that appeared caused me to shut my eyes since it was bright.

"Valerie?" I heard a familiar voice ask.

After a few seconds my eyes started adjusting to the light and my eyes widened when I saw who was talking to me.

"Hot Shot?" I asked, surprised to see that I had been in the yellow mech's hands this whole time.

"Are you okay?" He asked me, looking concerned.

I felt a little confused at first, but then my mind seemed to register what his question.

"…I'm fine." I told him honestly.

I realized that Hot Shot must've had me trapped in his hands in order to protect me, and see as he was lying on his left side on the ground (and I happened to be sitting upright in his hands at the moment) he must've held me close to his chest in order to reinforce that protection. So that's why I felt his hands move earlier. I was about to ask if he was alright when I was interrupted.

"Hot Shot!" Both Hot Shot and I turned to where the voice came from to see Red Alert running towards us. "You alright?"

Red Alert stopped and seemed to somewhat tired.

"How are you?" Hot Shot asked, carefully getting up with me in his hands before walking over to Red Alert.

"I got kinda banged up." Red Alert replied, looking at his left arm. "And it looks like I sustained some collateral damage."

I looked around at our surroundings to see that we in what appeared to be a wasteland with what looked to be dead trees.

"So what is this place?" That was the same question that happened to be in my mind.

"It's a distant planet, but I don't know which one it is. We must have been blasted to the other side of the universe when we went through that wormhole."

"Do you think Megatron's behind this?"

"I doubt the Decepticons could pull something like _this _off. Let's set up here. We need to get a beacon going stat." Red Alert bent down a bit. "Hopefully, this'll help them find us."

It was at this that Red Alert pressed a button that was located on his body and I could hear the beeping sound that it left off. I assumed that this was the beacon he mentioned just now.

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Jetfire could faintly hear a beeping sound going off as he slowly activated his optics. It was then he realized that the beeping was coming from the navigation monitor and that it was indicating that a beacon was going off. That meant Hot Shot and Red Alert were okay.

'_That's good._' He thought.

He looked around to see that everyone else was in stasis except for Optimus, who was struggling to get up, but in the end he couldn't. He also saw that the kids were in the same state as well, but it was then that he noticed something. Where was Valerie? Jetfire frantically searched the room again, but he still couldn't find her at all. His gold optics widened as realized what happened to her. She was with Hot Shot and Red Alert!

'_Valerie!_' Jetfire decided to try to communicate with her to see if she was alright. '_Valerie, can you hear me?_'

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Hot Shot knelt down and lowered his hand so I could get off before he stood up again. I lifted my left hand to the button on the collar of my spacesuit so that I could take my helmet off.

"Don't do that, Valerie." Red Alert told me.

I jerked my hand away from the button and turn to face Red Alert, confused as to why he didn't want me to take my helmet off.

"Why?" I asked.

"We don't know if the atmosphere of this planet is safe enough for you to take your helmet off. Despite the fact that there are trees, they look too dead to produce the oxygen you need to breathe. It would be safer for you to keep your helmet on for now."

"But what if I run out of oxygen while wearing this spacesuit?"

"You won't. The spacesuits you and the your friends wear were designed to take the carbon dioxide you exhale and recycle it in order to create the oxygen you're breathing at the moment."

I didn't even know the spacesuit could even do that. It sounded so unreal, yet the whole concept was very convenient. Red Alert went over to a dead tree that happened to be nearby and seemed to start examining it. I happened to be standing to Hot Shot's right as he knelt down and scrapped up a bit of the ground.

"Huh?" Hot Shot brought up the piece of ground he dug up close to his face. He then looked up in realization. "Hey, it's salt."

"And this isn't a tree either." Red Alert told us. "I think it's a mechanical device of some kind."

Hot Shot turned to face my direction.

"So we got salty earth and mechanical trees." Hot Shot concluded, wiping the salt off his metallic hands. "I wonder what could live here."

Red Alert turned to Hot Shot.

"Nothing, as far as I can tell, Hot Shot."

"You mean nothing you'd want to run into, right?"

I suddenly started having that bad feeling I had earlier and it just…put me on edge. It was like warning signs were going off in my head and I wrapped my arms around me in order to comfort myself.

'_I wish Jetfire was here._' I thought.

"What's wrong, Valerie?" Hot Shot asked.

"I don't like this place." I said, turning to look at the yellow mech. "I feel like something bad is going to happen."

"What makes you say that?" Red Alert asked.

"I don't know. I can't stop feeling like this."

I could see the worried looks on their faces (except for Red Alert, since he seemed to be good at hiding it).

"You must have _one_ wacky sixth sense if you're feeling that way." Hot Shot suddenly said.

Red Alert carefully picked me up in his hand before he and Hot Shot started walking in a random direction. I felt a presence brushing up against my mind in the lightest of touches.

_**{…C'mon, Valerie! Answer me...!}**_

My eyes widened in surprise when I heard the familiar voice in my mind.

'_Jetfire?_' I said, trying desperately to hold onto the presence in my mind. '_Is that you?_'

_**{…Course it's me. I've been trying to get a hold of you for awhile now…}**_

I noticed how Jetfire's voice sounded distant. And my connection to him didn't feel as strong as it usually did. Was it because this strange planet I was on was far away from the Axalon?

_**{…Don't worry about that...}**_ Jetfire told me, knowing what I was thinking. _**{…Are you with Hot Shot and Red Alert…?}**_

'_Yes, I am._' I answered. '_I'm scared, Jetfire. This place gives me the same feeling I get whenever Sideways appears in my mind._'

I know Jetfire tried to comfort me through our connection, but I could barely feel it. It made me realize just how alone I felt despite the fact that Hot Shot and Red Alert were with me. I was so far away from Earth, from home and anything that was familiar to me. I felt like I was a small child who had gotten lost in the worlds biggest Wal-Mart and was unable to find their parents. I was so scared that I wanted nothing more than to be back in the safety of Jetfire's arms and listen to him hum the Cybertronian Lullaby to me. I wish I hadn't tripped when I was running to get back inside the Axalon. I wouldn't be in this situation feeling the way I did if I hadn't been such a klutz.

_**{…Listen to me, Skydancer! Everything's gonna be okay. We're on our way to get you three off that planet you're on as we speak. For now I need you to stick close to Hot Shot and Red Alert. They'll keep you safe. I know you're scared, but I need you to be strong for me…}**_

'_But Jetfire! I'm not strong! I've never been as strong as you or any of the others! I'm just a scared girl who's so far from home._'

_**{…You are strong. You just haven't realized it yet. Just be strong for me until we finally arrive. I know you can at least do that much…}**_

'…_I'll try, Jetfire. I love you._'

_**{…I love…}**_

Jetfire's voice faded before he could finish what he was saying to me and I knew that whatever communication we had through our connection had disappeared for now. I felt like crying, but then I remembered that Jetfire wanted me to be strong for him. I had to be strong. If he believed I could be strong, then I was most likely capable of being strong. I just happened to be in this situation that's left me feeling a bit disconnected from my sparkmate temporarily, and I had to try to handle it until he and the others arrived to get us.

"This is just like a _forest_!" Hot Shot said as we continued making our way through the forest of metallic trees. "It kinda makes me miss the Earth." As I was looking around I thought I saw something, but when I blinked it was gone. "Hmm?"

I noticed Hot Shot had stopped walking and Red Alert stopped as well. Hot Shot seemed to be looking at something to his right.

"What's wrong?" Red Alert asked as he looked over at the yellow mech.

"I thought I saw something."

So I wasn't the only one imagining things? This…wasn't good. That bad feeling I've been having only seemed to get worse now.

"Hmm. I don't see anything."

"I'll go look." It was then that Hot Shot started walking off.

"You be careful!" Red Alert warned.

"Yeah, yeah... I know." Hot Shot said dismissively. He didn't get far when suddenly red blasts were being fired at us! Both Autobots dodged the attacks (Red Alert happened to cover me protectively with his hands) before hiding behind a tree. "Who's out there_?_!" Hot Shot looked around the tree, being careful just in case he got shot at again. "Come on and show yourself!" Suddenly a loud banging sound was heard the yellow mech looked up. "Huh_?_!"

I looked up to see what Hot Shot was looking at and my eyes widened when a dark figure, giving off a war cry, fell from the sky and landed in front of the yellow mech. If it were possible for my eyes to get any wider than they were, they must've been as wide as saucers when I saw who the dark figure looked like.

"Wow, Optimus_?_!" Hot Shot gasped in surprise.

"Get back!" Red Alert yelled, but suddenly the dark looking Optimus growled and tackled Hot Shot to the ground. "Hot Shot!" Red Alert placed me on the ground behind the tree before running over to help the yellow mech, but he stopped when dark Optimus noticed him. Even from where I stood looking out from behind the tree, I felt fear flow through me when I saw dark Optimus' red optics land on Red Alert after having turned to the medic bot. He growled as those red optics started to close ominously. "Who are you? Some kind of Optimus Prime clone?"

Suddenly dark Optimus clasped his fists together—and I saw Red Alert step back in fear as he recognized the familiar attack—before he pushed them forward and causing a blast to be sent forth and hit Red Alert. I cried out in fright when the trees were destroyed by the blast and I barely managed to get away from getting hit…thanks to my clumsiness, surprisingly.

"Hot Shot! You alright?" Red Alert called out. "Where are you_?_!"

I looked up to see that a bunch of trees had fallen over and I started to get up. The particles of the salty ground (that the trees had caused to fly everywhere as soon as they landed on the ground) started to clear up and I could see Red Alert was crouching. That was when dark Optimus landed in front of him before he started charging at the medic bot.

"Look out!" Hot Shot cried out.

Despite Hot Shot's warning dark Optimus still rammed into Red Alert, but the Autobot managed to recover quickly enough in the air just as dark Optimus turned around to see him land on his feet behind him.

"Transform!" Red Alert transformed into his vehicle mode. "Let's get outta here, Hot Shot!" It was with that that Red Alert started driving off.

I knew at that moment that Hot Shot was my only option to get away from the dark Optimus that was attacking us. I started running as fast as I could over to where the yellow mech was, but suddenly dark Optimus noticed me and I found myself frozen in place under the gaze of those red optics of his. Despite the fact that my mind was desperately yelling for me to run, I was unable to move at all as I watched dark Optimus charge at me. It was as if this dark transformer was something out of a nightmare and I couldn't help but be reminded of all the times Sideways had always appeared before me in my mind; the fear I felt was the same as the one I got from last time I saw that mech.

Suddenly a metallic hand snatched me up from where I had been standing and before I knew it I found myself sitting inside the interior of a car with the seatbelt fastened across my chest protectively. What…just happened?

"Are you okay, Valerie?"

I looked at the dashboard of the car and I realized that I was inside of Hot Shot. So he was the one that grabbed me.

"I-I think so…" I answered quietly, my body still shaking in fear from what happened.

I turned around to look out the back window just in time to see the dark Optimus transform into a dark version of the truck Optimus usually changed into. And it was driving after us!

"That thing can transform?" Hot Shot cried.

Suddenly dark Optimus started shooting at us and cried out in fright with my eyes shut tightly as Hot Shot swerved slightly to avoid getting hit. I could feel the seatbelt tighten slightly to keep me from moving around too much and hurting myself. I didn't want to be here! I know Jetfire told me to be strong, but it seemed impossible now due to the situation I was currently in.

"You know what? I find it _disturbing_ how that sixth sense of yours was right! Remind me to never doubt you _when_ start having those bad feelings again!"

"I don't exactly like it, either!" I said, opening my eyes. "For once, I wish I _had_ been wrong!"

I found myself shutting my eyes again as I tried to think of some happy thoughts to distract me. I thought of all the times Jetfire held me while using his holoform and the safety that came with it. But thinking about Jetfire made me realize how much I needed him right now and it didn't help that I could barely feel him through the connection. It was like it wasn't there at all and I started feeling scared. The last time I couldn't feel the connection was when Jetfire rejected me because of my secret admirer, and because of it I ended up losing my emotions. Was I going to lose my emotions again like last time? Was I going to end up being a living doll, unable to feel anything from the simplest of warmth to my emotions?

'_I don't want to lose my emotions again!_' I thought fearfully. '_I don't want to end up like that!_'

"He may be a fake Optimus, but he's as _strong_ as the _real _one!" Hot Shot said. "What are we gonna do, Red?"

"I'm not sure. Just keep moving, Hot Shot." Red Alert said.

Suddenly I heard the sound of a familiar voice laughing.

"After them! Run them into the ground!"

My eyes shot open and I turned around to look at what was behind us, only to have them widen when I saw who else was behind us!

"It's Megatron!"

Not only was it Megatron, but Demolishor and Starscream as well, who all happened to be driving/flying behind dark Optimus. Hot Shot and Red Alert suddenly stopped and before I knew it I found myself being held in the yellow mech's hand.

"I am Nemesis PRIME!" The dark Optimus yelled as he transformed. That monster was called Nemesis Prime?

"So, Megatron is behind this." Hot Shot said.

Megatron, Demolishor, and Starscream transformed back into their robot forms and, as if out of nowhere, Tidal Wave appeared and Powerlinked with the Decepticon leader. The Decepticons ended up standing with Nemesis Prime.

"Yessss... It's so good to see you again, Optimus Prime." Megatron said. It was then that he took noticed of Nemesis. "You've changed."

I felt the blood drain from my face when I saw Nemesis Prime's red optics start to glow and suddenly he grabbed Megatron my his throat with one hand before holding him up in the air. But what had my eyes wide was the fact that Nemesis' arm literally stretched out like a rubber band!

"What's _this_?" Hot Shot asked in surprise.

"Stop! What - what are you _doing?_!" Megatron asked while struggling to get free.

Starscream pulled out his wing sword and charged at Nemesis Prime before slashing his arm off to free Megatron; the Decepticon leader landed on the ground. Starscream turned around to face Nemesis in time to see his arm regenerate and look as if it was never cut off in the first place. The sight horrified me and I knew this was bad…really bad.

"...Wha?" Hot Shot said dumbfounded.

"What _is _that thing?" Red Alert asked.

"Come get me." Starscream challenged, holding his sword with both hands. "I'm ready."

Starscream tried to attack Nemesis Prime, but then his sword was knocked out of his hands and I saw the fearful look on the Decepticon's face now that he was defenseless.

"Nemesis Prime will...DESTROY!" Nemesis yelled, punching Starscream to the ground. Starscream lands on the ground. "Heh, heh, heh, heh…"

Fear gripped me when I heard Nemesis Prime's dark laugh. It…it was the same laugh Sideways had, the same one I've heard some many times and dreaded hearing. Hot Shot suddenly knelt down and lowered the hand he held me in so that he could place me on the ground.

"You need to get to safety." Hot Shot told me. "If there's one thing I know for certain, it's that Jetfire will kill me if something were to happen to you."

I didn't question Hot Shot at all and tried to get to a safe distance from where the transformers were fighting.

"Hey!" Hot Shot yelled

"Huh_?_!" Nemesis Prime quickly turned to see the yellow mech charging at him.

"You're nothing but a big _phony_! I'll take you on! Graaaahh!"

Hot Shot managed to punch Nemesis Prime, but the monster recovered quickly and turned to look at him. The yellow mech tried to punch him again, but Nemesis ended up catching his fist easily before flinging Hot Shot to the ground.

"Hot Shot…" Red Alert yelled before running over to the yellow mech.

"Uh, I'll blast him." I spotted Megatron lifting up the Requiem Blaster and aiming it at Nemesis Prime. "I'll give you a personal demonstration of the Requiem Blaster. Good riddance!"

"No, _don't_!" Starscream suddenly yelled.

"Fry!" Megatron yelled before firing the Requiem Blaster at Nemesis Prime.

Nemesis Prime was caught in the blast that came from the Requiem Blaster, but my eyes widened in horror when I saw Hot Shot and Red Alert ended up getting hit as well. When the bright light from the blast faded I could see that all that remained of Nemesis Prime were multiple pieces on the ground. Demolishor went over to the remains and picked up a piece to examine it, only to yelp and drop the piece when the wired started moving.

Megatron laughed and lifted the Requiem Blaster up a bit.

"_That_ was a good shot! With the Requiem Blaster, I never miss a _target_." Megatron said. "Especially the ones that look like _Autobots_."

I looked over to where Hot Shot and Red Alert were and gasped when I saw how damaged they were!

"Hot Shot! Red Alert!" I cried out.

I started running over to where the two Autobots were and as I got closer I could hear their conversation.

"C'mon... Get up, Hot Shot!" Red Alert said, and I could see Hot Shot struggling to get up. "Hot Shot!"

"I hear ya, Red Alert..." Hot Shot said, looking up at Red Alert. "But I - I don't think I can move my legs."

I almost made it over to where Hot Shot and Red Alert were when a metallic hand suddenly grabbed me. I started screaming in fear and tried to get free, but it was no use. I turned my head to see who my capture was and my eyes widened when I saw that it was Starscream. The expression on his face was unreadable, yet I could see the faint hint of conflicting emotions in his orange red optics. I suddenly heard Megatron laugh and turned to see him aiming the Requiem Blaster at Hot Shot and Red Alert.

"I know it's not much of a challenge, but I'll blast them anyway." Megatron said.

"Wait, Megatron!" Starscream suddenly said, causing the Decepticon Leader to turn to him. "Why don't we take them _both _hostage?"

"_Hostage_?" Megatron seemed to be curious.

"We can use them as bait to lure the other Autobots to the planet." Starscream turned to look at Hot Shot and Red Alert. "Look at these two... They're in no condition to put up much of a fight."

"And the human femme?"

"We can use her against the Autobot Vice Commander and take advantage of the fact that he's her guardian."

My eyes widened and I turned to Starscream to see if he really meant what he said, but upon seeing the serious look on his face I knew he meant it every weird. How could he do this to us? He knew that I was the only one he told about Alexis being his sparkmate, the one he trusted enough with that secret since he knew about my relationship with Jetfire. Didn't he realize how much Alexis was still hurting even after all this time? I felt betrayed that he would do something like this, but I had to be grateful that he only said that Jetfire was my guardian instead of my sparkmate. I knew that Megatron already knew this, but Hot Shot and Red Alert didn't need to know that, along with Demolishor.

"Yes, you're right. But they could prove to be more trouble than they're worth." Megatron said before aiming the Requiem Blaster at Hot Shot and Red Alert again. I was fearfully that he was really going to shoot them, but suddenly he smirked. "Ha." He then lowered the Requiem Blaster. "Still, we might be able to use them as decoys when we make our way back to Cybertron. Oh, Demolishor... Take them back to the ship."

With that Megatron started walking away.

"Uh, yessir." Demolishor replied before going over to Hot Shot. "On your feet, now!" Hot Shot looked up at Demolishor. "Hey, I told you to get up!"

Hot Shot looked down and started growling quietly. "Erggh, why you lousy - !" Hot Shot started getting up to try and attack Demolishor.

"No, Hot Shot! Don't do it!" Red Alert yelled.

Demolishor took a few steps back as Hot Shot approached him, but the yellow mech fell to the ground and I knew he was weak.

"Ah... I'll get you!"

I turned to Starscream and I felt so intimidated at the moment since he was no longer on the Autobots' side.

"Starscream." I said quietly, causing him to look at me. "Don't do this. I know there's some good in you even if you betrayed us. Think of how Alexis would feel if she saw you."

Starscream didn't say anything and turned away from me before going over to stand next to Demolishor. Hot Shot looked up at Starscream as the Decepticon seeker gazed down at him. The yellow mech's blue optics narrowed into a glare.

"You know what you are, Starscream?" Hot Shot asked as Starscream started reaching out his free hand as if he was about to grab the yellow mech. "You're a no-good low-down…_deserter_!"

"I'm a _Decepticon_!" Starscream said, his orange red optics narrowed.

"Uh? What - what's happening here?" Megatron suddenly said, causing Starscream to turn to face the Decepticon leader. I could see Megatron standing where he was while looking at the remains of Nemesis Prime and I could make out the wires moving on their own as if they were snakes. "What? What is this Nemesis Prime?"

To my horror a cloud of flurries suddenly came out of nowhere and started to form into a shape, or better yet into the form of Nemesis Prime. Nemesis stood up and I gasped when I saw how badly damaged his face was with the only thing still intact being his right red optic, which was starting to glow before the rest of his face was restored completely. Nemesis suddenly lunged at Megatron and the Decepticon fired the Requiem Blaster at him, but the monster easily moved out of the way; he charged at Megatron and swatted the Requiem Blaster out of his hold before pinning him down to the ground.

"No! Let me go!" Megatron yelled.

Nemesis Prime grabbed a hold of Megatron's hip blaster and easily tore it off before tossing it away and standing up. He then grabbed Megatron's head with his right hand.

"Get off of him right now!" Demolishor yelled before firing at Nemesis and hitting him in the back.

Nemesis Prime growled as he turned to face Demolishor and I knew the Decepticon was scared since he started running away just as the monster gave chase, running in a fashion that reminded me of a gorilla. Suddenly a black version of what looked to be the Star Saber formed in his hand and Nemesis caught up with Demolishor and pinned him down. He laughed darkly before slashing Demolishor's shoulder blasters off in a clean cut. It was then that Nemesis Prime turned to where Starscream and I were.

"Hey!" Starscream yelled.

Nemesis Prime merely laughed before charging at us, grabbed Starscream, and cut his right wing off. I screamed out in fear as Starscream started falling to the ground, but suddenly I found myself being held uncomfortably in the monster's free hand. I started screaming again and struggled.

"Let me go!" I cried out fearfully, thinking he was going to kill me.

But to my surprise he didn't do anything at all except keep me in that tight grip of his. That still didn't get rid of my fears and I was still shaking in response. Nemesis then turned around to Hot Shot and Red Alert where they were still lying on the ground injured.

"Hey, Red Alert." I heard Hot Shot say. "I think we've been spotted."

Suddenly Nemesis Prime started charging at Hot Shot and Red Alert, bearing the dark looking Star Saber. I saw the horrified looks on my friends' faces as Nemesis leaped into the air and I heard him laugh darkly, as if he enjoyed the fact that he was going to kill them. Just as he was coming down to attack the two injured Autobots something happened that sent me flying out of Nemesis' hand and I screamed as I saw the ground approaching. Oh god, I was going to die! If not I was either going to be in a lot of pain or end up breaking something! I hope I didn't break my spine or something! As I got closer to the ground I shut my eyes tightly as I anticipated the pain that would come.

I hit the ground, but the pain I felt wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Sure the landing knocked the air out of my lungs, but aside from that the pain was nothing more than what you'd get for running into a door and falling to the ground. …A normal person would be in a lot of pain right now (or dead), so how come I wasn't in as much pain or dead? I suddenly noticed in the sky and looked up to see a pillar of green light before five Mini-Cons appeared out of nowhere, all of them being inside bubbles that happened to be multicolored.

"This fighting must end…" One of the Mini-Cons said in a very deep voice.

"T-the Mini-Cons?" Red Alert said weakly in awe.

The green pillar of light disappeared and the bubbles the Mini-Cons were inside started to glow brightly before five green beams of light appeared and expanded to make a dome around Hot Shot, Red Alert, Megatron, Demolishor, and Starscream. My eyes widened as I watched the colorations on each Autobot and Decepticon change, along with them being repaired in the processes, before the dome and the Mini-Cons disappeared.

"Huh?" I heard Megatron say as he turned to look up at the sky.

"I look like...Thundercracker." Starscream said, sitting up as he looked down at his right hand.

Hot Shot stood up and looked down at his left hand in awe.

"The Mini-Cons reformatted and fused our armor - to save us all." Red Alert said before looking up at the sky.

I looked up at the sky as well and my eyes widened in surprise when I saw the Axalon appear. I felt so relieved to see the Autobot ship that I felt tears form in my eyes.

"Oh no! It's the Autobot ship!" The Decepticon leader picked up the Requiem Blaster that was on the ground next to him. "As Galvatron…" He started, and I was shocked when he aimed the Requiem Blaster at the Axalon. "I have even _more_ power."

Just as I thought Megatron – of Galvatron, as he was now calling himself – seemed like he was about to fire at the Axalon I noticed something falling out of the sky and as it got closer to the ground I gasped when I saw who it was. Optimus transformed from his vehicle mode to his robotic form before landing on the ground in front of us.

"Optimus!" Hot Shot yelled in surprise.

"It's really him!" Demolishor said, pointing at the Autobot leader.

"Not for long." Galvatron growled, now aiming the Requiem Blaster at Optimus.

"Hold on, Megatron!" Optimus ordered, holding out his hand.

"Why?"

I yelped when the ground suddenly started shaking.

"What's going on?" I asked out loud.

"It's coming!" Optimus said.

That was when the ground erupted and out came a giant version of Nemesis Prime, his voice booming as he roared in anger. Optimus changed into his super mode and the red machine (that I just noticed) that came with him started changing until it was mounted on Optimus as shoulder cannons. I could hear Nemesis growling quietly at Optimus.

"Let's do it. Overload, fire!" It was then that Optimus fired at Nemesis Prime, and the blast that hit the dark Optimus looked as if it was electrocuting him. The Autobot leader then turned to Galvatron. "Megatron! Blast him with the Requiem Blaster!"

"Galvatron to you." The Decepticon leader corrected before laughing. He then aimed the Requiem Blaster at Nemesis Prime. I looked at Nemesis and I just felt fear upon seeing how badly damaged his face was. "Take that."

Galvatron then fired the Requiem Blaster at Nemesis Prime and a white light engulfed him, making it hard for me to see what was happening to him.

"Look! It's melting!" Starscream exclaimed. Were the transformers able to see what was going on?

"What?" Galvatron asked, looking at Starscream.

The white light from the Requiem Blaster hitting Nemesis disappeared, but my eyes widened when I saw what looked to be a hologram of Sideways in place of the dark Optimus. He grunted in pain before suddenly disappearing.

"A hologram of _Sideways_?" Hot Shot asked.

My body started shaking in fear as I realized why Nemesis Prime had been after me. Sideways had told me that my time was coming soon. This had to be what he meant. This whole time he was using Nemesis to retrieve me! Sideways was now after me. But he failed doing so. Oh, no… he was going to be angry about this. What if he saw incident as me trying to run away from the deal I made with him? If he did then that meant he would go after the people I cared about. Even though I didn't want him to hurt anyone, I didn't want him to take me away from Jetfire. I didn't want to end up being a catalyst that would bring about the end of the universe. This couldn't be my fate.

Suddenly the ground started shaking and breaking up, almost as if it were a result of Nemesis Prime being destroyed.

"Galvatron, let's get outta here!" Demolishor said after approaching his leader.

Galvatron lifted the Requiem Blaster up to his face.

"Yes, as soon as I finish them off!" Galvatron said.

I gasped as I realized what Galvatron meant and Optimus must've realized this too since he turned to Galvatron.

"Megatron! No!" Optimus yelled.

But it was too late. Galvatron aimed the Requiem Blaster at the Axalon and fired at it.

"No!" I cried out.

'_Jetfire!_' I thought, knowing that he was with the others inside the Autobot ship.

Due to being hit by the blast the Axalon was forced to land on the ground. Galvatron laughed, a smirk on his face.

"Isn't that too bad..." Galvatron said. "Looks like they won't be going to Cybertron _now_. But _we_ will be."

Galvatron laughed as he, Demolishor, and Starscream warped off the planet and I assumed that they went back to their ship.

"Ah, they're gettin' _away_!" Hot Shot yelled.

"Hot Shot! Get to the ship, now!" Red Alert yelled.

Before I knew it I was suddenly scooped up off the ground and I found myself being held in Optimus' hand and he, Hot Shot, and Red Alert started running toward the Axalon. My thoughts returned to my fearful revelation concerning what I just went through on this planet that was breaking apart that I didn't noticed that we finally boarded the Axalon or the fact that we entered the bridge of the ship. I was able to pick up Sideswipe telling Optimus that the warp engine had been hit, so that meant that we couldn't warp away from the planet; we would have to get away the old fashion way by flying as far away as we could.

Eventually we managed to get away from the planet in time before it crumbled to pieces, but I was unable to forget the hologram of Sideways or Nemesis Prime. Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred gathered around me asking if I was okay, but I couldn't seem to answer their question.

"He's after me…" I suddenly found myself saying.

Everyone seemed to go quiet as they turned to look at me with confused looks from what I said. They didn't know what I was talking about; I saw the look in Jetfire's optics and was fully aware that he knew what I was talking about.

"Valerie?" Optimus asked, sounding confused.

Everything seemed like a blur to me because the next thing I knew I found myself running down a hallway. I realized that me feet were taking me to Jetfire's quarters since I ran inside and went underneath his berth to hide. I ended up lying on the floor curled up in a fetal position as I tried desperately to escape the fears that plagued my mind, but I couldn't get rid of them. They kept coming back again and again and I ended up shaking because of it. I suddenly heard the door hiss open, followed by the sound of large footsteps walking into the room. From where I was I could see Jetfire's feet as he approached the berth I was hiding under.

"I know you're under there, Valerie." Jetfire said quietly, his voice sounding calm.

I watched as Jetfire bent down and I found him gazing at me as soon as he looked under the berth, his gold optics glowing color due to the dimness of my hiding place. In the end Jetfire ended up laying on the floor on his stomach while sticking his head underneath his berth so he was close to me. He brought one of his hands close to me so that he could caress me, and after he made sure that I calmed down a bit Jetfire gently wrapped his fingers around my body before carefully pulling himself out from underneath the berth. He soon stood up and placed me on top of the nightstand where my bed and stuff was before his holoform materialized in front of me. I know I surprised him when I suddenly clung to him, my arms wrapped around his waist and didn't dare to let go of him. That was when I started crying from both fear and relief. Fear because of what I went through, and relief because I was back with Jetfire. He ended up wrapping his arms around me in order to comfort me.

"He's after me, Jetfire." I said quietly, unable to hide the fear in my voice. "He's coming for me."

I could feel Jetfire's shock through the connection before it was replaced my anger, but it wasn't aimed at me; it was aimed at Sideways. His hold around me tightened protectively in response to what I said.

"He can't have you!" Jetfire declared, sounding very determined. "I won't let him take you away from me. I promised to protect you, remember? I wouldn't give you up if it meant my mother would be brought back from the Well of All Sparks. I'll continue to protect you even if it costs me my spark."

"No!" I shook my head in protest as I was suddenly reminded of the vision Sideways showed me of Jetfire being killed and seeing his spark being extinguished before my eyes. I didn't want to see that happen again, even if it had only been a vision the first time. "I don't want you throwing your life away just to protect me! I don't want Sideways to kill you like he did in that vision I had!"

"And you think I want to lose you to that virus?" I knew Jetfire remembered the vision I told him about that day I tried to commit suicide the first time. "I don't care what happens to me, all that matters is that you're safe."

"But Jetfire-!"

I didn't get to finish since Jetfire captured my lips with his and kissing me. Through our connection I could feel how strong his determination to protect me was to keep me away from Sideways. I knew that no matter what I said to try and convince him otherwise, his mind was made up and he would remain steadfast and stubborn. He was proving to me just how much he wanted to protect me and I felt a few stray tears leave my eyes. Jetfire eventually pulled away before holding my close and tucking my head under his chin.

"I'll always protect you. Don't try to convince me otherwise." He said as if it were final. "Besides, I indirectly promised your parents that I'd keep you safe, remember?"

I smiled a small smile before shaking my head.

"You can be so stubborn sometimes." I told him.

"If it means keeping you safe then I'll continue being the stubborn mech that I am." He laughed quietly.

Jetfire decided that I should go to bed early and had me get changed into my Pjs. He joined me as soon as I got under the covers and I ended up falling asleep in his arms, feeling safe and warm.

* * *

ATE: That's it for now. I wanted to get this chapter done so badly that I ended up staying up late to finish it. Luckily I don't have classes tomorrow (or today, if you want to be technical). I find it funny how I had Valerie's clumsiness - the very thing that got her into trouble - be the very thing that saved her from getting hurt at one point in this chapter. It's very ironic if you think about it. I could've done better with the last part at the end, but I couldn't really think of anything I could do to make it better. I guess I'll be going to bed now after I post this chapter.

Please remember to review and oyasumi (goodnight)! ;D


	21. Uprising

ATE: Hey, everyone! I finally updated after so long (again). I gotta thank **Crystalmaiden62**, **Diamond White**, **Manderss.x.x**, **SeekerLuna**, **Sailor Shinzo**, **Autobot-Bre**, and **Bumblebeecamaro38** for their reviews for the last chapter. This chapter covers the events of episode 44 (Uprising). Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

* * *

Chapter 21: Uprising

"Engineering! Isn't it fixed yet? We gotta warp outta here!" Hot Shot said.

"I'm on it!" Red Alert said.

"What for?" Hoist asked. "The engine's completely fried."

"Enough _whining_, Hoist. Now let's pick up the _pace _and finish this. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah."

From where I sat with my friends I could see that some of the Autobots seemed anxious. After what happened on that unknown planet that Hot Shot, Red Alert, and I ended up on (not to mention the fact that Megatron – now Galvatron – shot the engine of the Axalon), everyone seemed to be anxious in some way, shape, or form around here. And the worst part is that the Decepticons were way ahead of us when it came to reaching Cybertron. Since none of use were able to help, we had no choice but to watch.

"Aw, so what's taking them so _long_?" Carlos asked. "We're like sitting_ ducks _here."

"He's right." Billy said, causing Carlos to turn to him. "The Decepticons could attack at any minute."

"Hey. There's really no point in getting upset about it, guys." Rad stated.

"Rad's right." Alexis said after turning to Rad. "Let's not panic."

"I just wish - they'd get the kitchen up and running again." Fred said, resting his chin on his folded arms.

The fact that Fred constantly talked about food or was always hungry was really getting old (and I'm surprise we still have enough food for us). Billy looked over at Fred, probably in concern for his friend. I couldn't blame everyone for being worried, especially when it game to the other Mini-Cons that were held captive by the Decepticons. All the Mini-Cons that formed the three weapons…

"Blurr, have you had a chance to approximate our landing co-ordinates when we arrive at Cybertron?" Optimus asked.

I looked up in time to see Blurr turning around in his seat to face Optimus.

"Yes, sir. According to my latest calculations, the most severe fighting will be in the north polar region. It looks like we're behind schedule already." Blurr told him. "We should land there and go straight into battle."

"Yeah, alright!" Hot Shot said cheerfully after turning to Optimus. "I can hardly wait to kick some Decepti-butt!"

"No, it's _too_obvious." Optimus stated.

"Huh?" I didn't blame Hot Shot for his confusion. How come Optimus said it was obvious?

"Galvatron will be expecting us there. Change co-ordinates to the south at 0502 degrees."

"But Optimus! That's in the middle of _nowhere_."

"We can't take any chances, Hot Shot. When we land, we'll assess the situation." At this Hot Shot turned around to have his monitor. "Blurr, activate engines, lock co-ordinates and warp speed."

"Engines engaged and set to warp, sir." Blurr said.

In response the Axalon started warping away from our current location. The sensation was really weird since I could barely feel the Axalon moving at all. You'd feel that way too if you'd been so used to feeling the sensation oft the ship moving. In a matter of seconds the Axalon warped out of hyperspace (for lack of better words/terms), but my eyes widened when I saw a metallic looking planet with a single moon.

'_Cybertron!_' I thought instantly. I found it strange that it looked just like I imagine it be.

In my mind I could hear Jetfire chuckle.

_**{Welcome to Cybertron, Skydancer, the home of many Cybertronians that just can't seem to get along with each other.}**_ Jetfire joked.

'_You're in a civil war with the Decepticons, and you decide to make it sound like some family feud? You might as well say you have a ton of siblings while you're at it._'

_**{Siblings?}**_

'_Um…basically brothers and sisters._'

"Whoa! So that's planet Cybertron." Carlos said.

"It looks deserted." Alexis said.

"Oh, I thought it was at war." Rad said.

"Enemy of the Mini-Cons!" High Wire suddenly said before bleeping frantically.

We all turned around to see High Wire waving his arms in the air in surprise.

"What is it, High Wire? What's wrong?" Alexis asked.

Looking over at Sureshock and Grindor I saw that they were waving their arms in the air while emitting frantic bleeps.

"Will destroy space!" High Wire continued.

"They're freaking out!" Carlos exclaimed, looking fearful. "But how _come_?"

Suddenly High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor transformed before driving out of the bridge.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" Rad asked as he started running after the three Mini-Cons.

We all ended up following Rad and the Mini-Cons and ran out of the room.

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Hot Shot was confused. Was he hearing things?

"Hey, did you just hear something, Jetfire?" Hot Shot asked, turning to the shuttle mech.

"Oh no..." Jetfire said, realizing what happened. "Optimus, sir! The Mini-Cons are headed for the jettison chamber."

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"I think they went this way!" Rad said as we ran around a corner.

But we didn't see High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor anywhere. All that greeted us was a closed door that wouldn't open.

The kids make it to the door and find that it's closed.

"C'mon!" Carlos said, pounding his fists on the metal door. "Open up these doors!" So the Mini-Cons went through that door! By the time the door opened there was no one inside. "That's it! I'm goin' in!"

"Carlos, no!" Rad cried out.

Despite Rad's protest Carlos ran into the elevator (I honestly didn't know what it was really called) before shutting the doors before we could say anything. This wasn't good at all!

"We gotta tell the others!" Billy said before running off.

"Hey, wait for me, Billy!" Fred cried before going after him.

I decided to follow Billy and Fred to the bridge where the Autobots where. I saw that the door was still open at the time.

"Ya gotta help us!" Billy cried as we ran into the bridge.

"What's up, guys?" Hot Shot asked, turning to us.

"Carlos just _bailed _outta the ship!"

That was when I turned to the main monitor to see what looked to be a black hole near Cybertron and instantly felt dread. I didn't like the looks of it and it gave me a bad feeling despite the fact that the Mini-Cons were outside the Axalon. After awhile Rad and Alexis came running into the room and Rad immediately went to the console that was at the human size station we always sat at before pressing a button.

"Hey, Carlos! Have you gone _nuts_?" Rad asked.

_**"Hey! I can't just sit and do **_**nothing**_**!"**_ Carlos voice said before Rad pressed the button again.

"I'm going after him!" Blurr said before running out of the bridge.

On the monitor I saw Carlos floating around in space wearing what looked to be a jetpack on his back since he used it to stop himself from moving around. That was when the green lights surrounding each Mini-Con started glowing brightly, but suddenly Carlos was slowly being pulled towards the black hole. Just as I started to fear the worse Blurr came and caught him with his hand.

"_**Hey, ya mind explaining what's going on out here?"**_ Carlos' voice suddenly said over a speaker.

"It looks like the Mini-Cons are forming some kind of _shield_." Alexis answered.

"Why would they do that?" Hot Shot asked.

"Good question." Jetfire replied. "Maybe they sensed _danger_. Even _worse_, maybe they sensed the Decepticons."

"Keep them in visual contact!" Optimus said as he stood up.

Jetfire ended up going with Optimus as they left the bridge. I felt worried as I watched and placed a hand over my heart.

'_Please be careful._' I said.

_**{Don't worry, Skydancer! Optimus and I will take care of it!}**_ Jetfire told me.

"Hey, wait a sec." Alexis said and I turned to see her looking at Rad. "It's _Unicron_. That must be it."

I felt dread as soon as Alexis mentioned Unicron's name and I was reminded of the fact that Sideways was still after me. But I have to stop myself from thinking about it since I don't want Jetfire or Optimus knowing about the fact that I knew about Unicron or the fact I was involved against my will. I turned back to the main monitor just in time to see Jet Optimus appear in front of Carlos, Blurr, and the Mini-Cons.

"_**No, Carlos. It's not safe.**_" Optimus said over the speaker."_**Get back to the ship. We'll handle this."**_

_**"Unicron is frightening."**_High Wire said.

_**"High Wire, Grindor, Sureshock, what are you trying to tell me?"**_

I felt the blood drain from my face as soon as I heard the dark laughter over the speakers and watched as Optimus turned around to where it was coming from.

_**"Who's there?**_**!**_**"**_

My eyes widened when I saw what looked to be a large hologram of Sideways (made up of flurries) appeared before Optimus and the Mini-Cons, replacing the black hole that had been there before.

_**"Curse those Mini-Cons! Spoiling my surprise."**_Sideways said.

_**"**_**Sideways?**_**!"**_Optimus exclaimed.

_**"After all you've been through, I'm amazed you still **_**remember**_** me, Optimus."**_

I was surprised when High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor suddenly started firing at the hologram of Sideways.

"_**Unicron will destroy."**_High Wire said as soon as they stopped.

_**"If you mindless miniscule Mini-Cons **_**don't **_**get outta my sight **_**immediately**_**, I'll turn you **_**all **_**into **_**space dust**_**!"**_ Sideways threatened, growling angrily._** "You've been **_**warned**_**…"**_**  
**

With that the Sideways hologram disappeared and I could feel a hint of Jetfire's anger through the connection just as Jet Optimus started making his way back to the Axalon. That was when the black hole appeared again.

_(Time Skip)_

I went with Alexis, Rad, Billy, and Fred to greet Carlos and we managed to arrive in time to see him, High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor just as the elevator doors opened before they stepped out.

"You're safe!" Rad said, sounding relieved.

"Yeah, and mission accomplished." Carlos stated.

Alexis ran up to Sureshock laughing just as she hugged her.

"We were all _worried_!" Alexis said.

Sureshock bleeped something, causing Alexis to pull away with a confused expression.

"Huh? Who's_ out_ there?"

"Alexis was thinking it _might _be Unicron." Rad said.

High Wire bleeped in response.

"But what I'm wondering is what was Sideways doing out there?" I asked.

This caused my friends to turn to me and I could see the pure look of confusion on their faces. Why were they looking at me like that?

"What are you talking about, Valerie?" Carlos asked. "I didn't see anyone else besides myself, Optimus, and Blurr along with the Mini-Cons."

"I _saw_ Sideways. He showed up on the main monitor and even talked to Optimus."

"Valerie." I turned to Alexis when I felt her place her hand on my shoulder. "We didn't see him at all, let alone heard them talking."

"But…I _heard_ them talking to each other on the speakers." I insisted.

"The speakers weren't on at the time." Rad stated. "I turned them off after Optimus and Jetfire left the bridge."

I felt the blood drain from my face as soon as I was told this. My friends hadn't seen Sideways appear before Optimus or heard their conversation? If that was so then how was I the only one that could? I tried my best to look like nothing was wrong and left my friends, going through the hallways and find a place where no one was likely to look at this time and sat down against the wall. I thought over what my friends told me a while ago and my eyes widened in shock as I realized what was going on. I suddenly became scared as soon as I heard Sideways laughing inside my head.

_**{So you finally realize what's going on.}**_ Sideways taunted. _**{How does it feel to learn that you're the only one that could see and hear me?}**_

'_Stop it!_' I told him. '_You're toying with me! You're trying to mess with my mind and make me think I'm going crazy!_'

_**{Am I?} **_My vision suddenly became dark and I was about to panic about my loss of sight, only to freeze up when I felt something being placed against the side of my face._** {You're scared. I can easily feel your fear despite how hard you've tried to hide it. You may be able to hide it from the others, but you will never be able to hide it from me.}**_

I didn't say anything. I was too scared to say or do anything. Why couldn't he just leave me alone?

_**{I told you before that I'd never leave you alone as long as you're capable of feeling fear.}**_ Before I knew it I felt something wrap around my throat and I gagged when it suddenly tightened its hold. I realized at that point that the object I had felt on the side of my face had been a hand…Sideways' hand! _**{But that little stunt you pulled back on that planet is inexcusable! I told you that I would be coming, but you **_**still**_** ran away!}**_

I quietly cried out when his hold tightened. As tempting as the reflex to claw at his hold was, I tried my best to resist it, knowing that it would only make things worse if I did.

'_I'm sorry!_' I cried, feeling completely terrified at the moment. '_I won't do it again! I promise!_'

_**{I would hope so, for your sake and everyone else's.}**_ His hold suddenly disappeared and I gasped for air. _**{I'll let you go with a warning this time, but the next time you try to run away…}**_

'…_You'll destroy everyone and everything I love and cherish…_' I finished, knowing that was what he wanted me to do.

_**{That's right, Sweet Valerie. You know what's at stake and you'd do well to remember that.}**_

I heard Sideways laugh as my vision returned and I tried so hard not to cry from this encounter. Only one question kept going through my head as I did my best to hold back the tears.

Why me?

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"You're saying Sideways was _out there_?" Hot Shot asked.

At the moment all of the Autobots where gathered in the bridge after having the kids leave momentarily.

"I am, Hot Shot. But _that's_ not who the Mini-Cons are warning us about." Optimus told him. "Our _real_ enemy lies even _further_ beyond Sideways and _that's_why they want to protect us."

"Who could _that_ be?" Jetfire asked.

"It's Unicron, and he's heading _straight_for us." Optimus turned to Sideswipe. "Sideswipe, what's the situation on Cybertron?"

"It appears all communication with the planet is _cut off_." Sideswipe told him.

"Optimus-sir, I volunteer to go on ahead and scope out the situation." Hoist said.

"We'll _all_ go." Scavenger told him after turning to Hoist.

"No, men!" Optimus said, taking a set forward.

"What do you mean, Optimus?" Hot Shot asked, turning to his leader. "It would be a surprise attack."

"Not a _good_ idea." Optimus turned to Hot Shot. "Listen, if we all attack from the same direction, we'll be too _big_ of a target. We've_ got_ to plan our assault."

'_Looks like it's time for some action!_' Jetfire thought.

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Despite the fact that Jetfire was capable of flying down to Cybertron, he still had to follow Optimus' orders so he ended up riding inside one of shuttle pods, as well as all the other Autobots that came as well (except for Red Alert and Sideswipe who decided to stay behind on the Axalon). Jetfire was teamed up with Optimus; Hot Shot was teamed up with Blurr, while Scavenger was with Hoist.

Jetfire knew that Cybertron hadn't been in the best condition while he was still there, but he was shocked to find it in an even worse shape than it had been when he left to join Optimus and the others on Earth. It was obvious that the Decepticons got here before they did, but to cause this much damage in such a short amount of time was just unbelievable!

'_Would this have happened if I'd stayed on Cybertron instead of going to Earth?_' Jetfire thought, still shocked as his gold optics gazed at the destruction around him from the platform he stood on.

Most of the structures were either reduced to rubble or barely intact, and that was as far as he could tell so far. But that didn't stop the sudden dread that he felt as he realized something. Was it possible that the Decepticons destroyed what was left of the home he grew up in? Jetfire clenched his servos into tight fists. They already took his mother from him; would they really go as far as to take the last thing that remained of past and his memories of his mother?

'_I'll never forgive the Decepticons if they ended up destroying my home!_' He vowed. '_I've worked so hard and fought so long just to keep it safe! I've lost many comrades in an effort to bring this war to an end!_'

"Can anyone hear me?" Optimus called out. When he didn't hear anything he turned to the shuttle mech. "Jetfire, I think it's best we split up and search for any survivors."

"That's if there _are_ any." Jetfire stated cynically. "It looks like the Decepticons did a pretty _thorough _job here."

_**{Stop being so cynical, Jetfire.}**_ Valerie told him.

He couldn't help the small smile that formed behind his face mask upon hearing her voice. Even if she was still on the Axalon with the others, she still managed to look out for him.

'_Okay, okay, I'm sorry for being cynical._' He said. '_But you'd end up feeling the same way if you saw what I'm seeing._'

_**{How bad is it?}**_

'_It's a lot _worse _than what it was when I—_'

"What?"

Upon hearing Optimus' voice, Jetfire turned to face him and saw his leader looking at something. He did the same thing and his optics widened in shock at what he saw. A bunch of Decepticon ships, followed by the sound of an all too familiar laugh reaching his audio receptors.

"Welcome to Cybertron! It's so _nice_ of you to join us." Galvatron said from where he stood on one of the ships. "At least now we'll be able to _bury_ you on your home planet, Optimus Prime!" The Decepticon leader laughed before aiming the Requiem Blaster at them. "Attack!"

'_Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!_' Jetfire thought.

Jetfire and Optimus managed to get behind some cover just as Galvatron fired the Requiem Blaster at them, along with Demolishor and Cyclonus firing at them as well.

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Starscream was with Thrust as they watched Galvatron and the other Decepticons firing at the area where Optimus and Jetfire were. It was when Thrust started laughing that he turned to the cone-headed Decepticon, locking his gray optics onto him.

"Isn't this the _perfect _vantage point to watch the carnage below?" Thrust asked, causing him to frown.

"Even the sound of your voice makes me _sick_, Thrust!" Starscream stated.

Despite his insult, Thrust merely ignored it.

"Be that as it may, Starscream. But remember, you and I are allies to the end."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire heard Optimus grunt as rubble was sent flying due to the blast that went off close to where he was taking cover behind some debris. The shuttle mech was forced to sit on the ground behind the debris he was hiding behind due to his size. He gave a quick glance in Optimus' direction before looking forward again.

'_Optimus _knew_ this was an ambush!_' Jetfire thought, finally realizing the _real _reason as to why his leader chose to come here.

"Axalon ship, this is Optimus. Can you read me? Over." Optimus said. Jetfire was aware that Optimus was probably talking to someone on the Axalon. Suddenly the Autobot leader stood up. "Listen carefully. Launch Overload. Understand?" There was a pause before Optimus turned to look to his right. "Trust me. They're _not_ after the ship. Your duty right now is to protect the humans_ and_ the Mini-Cons, Sideswipe. We'll go after Galvatron from down here."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Yeah, but Optimus-sir! What am I supposed to protect the Mini-Cons _with_?" Sideswipe asked from where he sat at the console.

Red Alert, who was standing behind Sideswipe, placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Just do as you're told and don't ask questions, Sideswipe." Red Alert told him, causing Sideswipe to look at him.

"Th-that's insane!"

"That's an _order_! You understand?"

Sideswipe was quiet as he stared at Red Alert.

Sideswipe is quiet as he stares at Red Alert.

"…Yes." Sideswipe responded before turning back to the console. "Yessir."

I heard the sound of a button being pressed and after awhile I almost missed seeing the red object that was released from the Axalon from the main monitor. What else I could see was the black hole near Cybertron, along with a glowing green orb of light and a bunch of Cybertronian battleships.

"Aw, man. I feel so useless." Carlos said.

"I'm getting hungry." Fred complained.

"Are there any Mini-Cons left on Cybertron?" Alexis asked, and in the background I could hear High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor bleeping behind us.

"I don't think so, Alexis." I replied. "Not unless you count the Mini-Cons that form the Star Saber, the Skyboom Shield, and the Requiem Blaster."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Out of the corner of his optics Jetfire spotted the red form that he had come to know as Overload flying over to where they were. As soon as he was close enough Optimus then Powerlinked with Overload, resulting in the Autobot leader having red cannons mounted on his shoulders before he started firing at the Decepticon ships.

"I'll hold them off." Optimus told him just as Jetfire stood up. "You lead a party and check for survivors."

"You got it, Optimus." Jetfire replied.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot punched one of the Decepticons he and Blurr were fighting before kicking another one that happened to be behind him. He ended up grinning.

"Haha! All right!" Hot Shot exclaimed cheerfully. "Watching all those kung-fu movies sure paid off!"

"And who said television wasn't _educational_, hey, Hot Shot?" Blurr asked as he continued shooting at Decepticons.

Hot Shot couldn't agree more and punched another Decepticon.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As for Hoist, he managed to embed his servo into a Decepticon tank and lifted it over his head.

"It's time to_ slam _a little Decepti-scum!" He announced before throwing the tank through the air.

"Excuse me, but you're in my _way_!" Scavenger yelled as he flanged two tanks out of his way with ease. As soon as they were gone he stood up straight. "Attention! Any survivors? Help destroy the Decepticons!"

As if those had been the magic words the ground started shaking and suddenly Scavenger spotted a few Autobot ships appear and ascend into the air. He laughed quietly at this.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot and Blurr watched as more Autobot ships appeared, both of them being amazed.

"Would you look at that?" Hot Shot said, with a small smile. "_Awesome_!"

"So there _were_ survivors _after all_." Blurr stated.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire couldn't help but grin behind his face mask as the Autobot ships came in and started firing at the Decepticon ships and destroyed them. Not only was he glad that the Calvary had arrived, but the fact that there were Autobot survivors.

"_Excellent_!" Optimus cheered.

"Looks like we're _back_in business!" Jetfire concluded.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

From where we were on the bridge of the Axalon I watched as the Autobot ships were displayed on the main monitor along with the battle.

"Wow! They were all _hiding_!" Rad exclaimed.

"It looks like they're all not afraid of _anything _anymore." Alexis stated, her hands clasped together. "Especially now since the Autobots showed up."

"Huh? Oh no!" Carlos suddenly said, causing us to turn and face him.

"Huh? What's wrong, Carlos?"

"Hey, what happened to our Mini-Cons, guys?"

That was when we realized that High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor were missing. Everything seemed to be a blur since before I knew it I was with my friends running towards the elevator (which lead to the jettison chamber) where the three Mini-Cons were.

"Look! Over there!" Carlos said as we ran over to the Mini-Cons before stopping in front of them. "Just where do you think you're going, anyway?" The Mini-Cons bleeped. "You're saying you want to help the Autobots _fight_? But it's too _dangerous_!"

"Hey, wait, Carlos." Rad started, causing the Hispanic boy to turn to him.

"Uh, Rad? Would you mind not interrupting here?"

"Maybe we should let 'em go."

Carlos turned back to High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor.

"Fine! See if I care!" He then turned back to Rad. "You happy now, Rad?"

"Carlos, I agree with Rad." Alexis suddenly said.

"I second that." I added.

Carlos turned to us in surprise.

"Aw, not _you _guys too, Alexis and Valerie!"

"We've gotta remember they're not human." Rad told us. "And they're programmed to _help_ - especially the Autobots."

"But these guys are like _best friends_ to us!" Carlos said after turning to face Rad. "How would _you_ feel if they got destroyed in battle? Huh?" Suddenly Carlos noticed the sound of the elevator doors opening and turned around in time to see the doors close shut with the three Mini-Cons inside. This took him by surprise and he went up to the door. "No way! Hey, you guys, open up!"

Rad went up to Carlos.

"Let them go, Carlos. There's _nothing _you can do now. Remember, they're fighting for their freedom, and I can't blame them for wanting to help out."

"You're right." I could hear the disappointment in Carlos' voice.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Ready or not, here I come, Optimus Prime!" Galvatron announced after jumping off the ship he had been on.

Galvatron soon landed on the ground and Optimus could see him holding the Star Saber.

"Galvatron!" Optimus said.

"That was very impressive the way you called out everyone to battle. _Sadly_, you don't have _near _enough resources to win."

Optimus wasn't the least bit surprised when Galvatron started charging at him with the Star Saber ready. Just as the Decepticon leader was about to slash at him Optimus managed to catch the sword with just a servo, successfully blocking the attack.

"Enough!"

"What - do you mean?"

Optimus could tell that Galvatron was confused and was ready to explain the situation to him. This was the real reason why he chose to land here in the first place.

"This war transcends far beyond _us_, Galvatron. A force is coming and you and I alone cannot _stop_it."

Galvatron narrowed his red optics.

"You're not making any _sense_."

"All I know is Sideways had something to _do_ with this. And according to the Mini-Cons, our _true_ enemy goes by the name of _Unicron_."

"Ha! You're just buying time before I dismantle you _piece_ by_ piece_." Galvatron said, not at all believing what the Autobot leader said.

"I'm _not _lying!" Optimus told him, taking a step back.

"Nice _try_, Prime."

Galvatron suddenly looked up and Optimus did the same thing just as the ground started to shake. He was surprised to see a huge piece of rumble falling from the sky and Galvatron barely avoided getting hit and moving out of the way before it crashed where he had stood not too long ago.

"You fool! I never thought I'd see the _day_ when _you_ - Prime - would begin to _lie_!"

"That day will never come, Galvatron. I speak only the truth!" Optimus then pointed up at the sky. "_See _for yourself."

Galvatron growled quietly, but looked up at the sky to see the black hole.

Parts of the ground and rubble start being lifted from the ground due to the black hole. Some of the pieces end up destroying some ships.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

From where Jetfire was in the sky he watched as the ground broke apart before the rubble was being lifted from it due to (he assumed) the black hole's gravitational pull. His gold optics widened in shock as he witnessed a few Decepticon ships being destroyed by the rubble that was being lifted up.

"What's going on?" Jetfire asked, suddenly feeling dreadful.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Optimus turned back to look at Galvatron and he hoped that this would prove his point.

"Doesn't that prove it?" He asked. "That force up there is so powerful the only way to defeat it is to combine our forces."

"Another elaborate trick, eh? Well, I'm not falling for it." Galvatron said adamantly.

Optimus was started to get a little frustrated with Galvatron being so stubborn. Compared to Jetfire, the Decepticon leader made his Vice Commander seem more cooperative.

"_How_ can I _get_ this through that thick _mainframe_ of yours_?_!" Optimus growled.

Galvatron turned away from Optimus.

"Now what?"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Starscream watched as Decepticon ships and rubble were being sucked into the black hole and a few of them getting destroyed as they crashed into each other in the process.

"Hahahahaha... The plan is _finally_ coming together. Soon there will be no _challenge_ to us! Hahahahaha…!" Thrust laughed.

"Have you _completely_ lost your _mind_, Thrust_?_!" Starscream asked, staring at the cone-headed Decepticon like he grown another head.

"...Hahahaha…!"

"He's _mad_. He's _not_ making any _sense_!"

"Hahahah – aaahh, _what__?_!" Thrust stopped laughing when he noticed the bright green light. "Oh no! What _is_ that_?_!"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I watched as the bright green light got bigger from the Mini-Cons gathered together, only to be surprised when tendrils came out from the light and head towards the black hole.

"Hey guys, _look_! It's the _Mini-Cons_!" Rad exclaimed. It liked as if it was firing at the black hole itself. "Check it out! I've never seen anything so_ incredible_!"

We all started cheering for the Mini-Cons, but suddenly the light looked like it was started to get sucked into the black hole itself.

"Hey look, they're getting sucked into that black hole." Carlos said.

"Oh no." Alexis said.

"Maybe that's where they're headed for, guys. And there's more coming." Rad pointed out.

Alexis gasped quietly as more Mini-Cons gathered into the green light. I was surprised when what looked to be rainbow colored rain suddenly started falling from the sky and onto Cybertron.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire did his best to avoid getting hit by the rubble that was being sucked into the black hole. To his right he spotted Cyclonus getting hit by a piece of rubble. He decided to sneak up on the Decepticon.

"I _can't_ get _anywhere_ with all this - ugh - useless _junk_ getting in my _way_!" Cyclonus complained loudly.

Jetfire took that time to laugh, letting his presence be known to the Decepticon.

"Would you like a little cheese with your _whine?_!" Jetfire teased.

Suddenly it started raining, but it wasn't normal rain like he'd seen while on Earth. This rain looked like the colors of a rainbow.

'_What the frag…?_' He thought.

"It's _raining_ in _space_?" Suddenly a drop of the rainbow rain landed the rubble on Cyclonus, and to his surprise it disappeared. "Whuwhuwhoa!"

"Who's _doing_ this?"

"Stop the fighting. Stop the fighting." A unison of voices said. It was then that Jetfire realized that the voices were the Mini-Cons.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Many Cybertronians were in awe as they watched the multicolored rain continue to fall onto Cybertron. Autobots and Decepticons alike stopped fighting just to witness this phenomenon that came out of nowhere. Those that were trapped under piles of rubble were freed as soon as a drop of rain landed on them and caused them to disappear completely, causing them to feel confused. Why was this happening? Why was it raining? None of them really knew the answer. The only thing that came close to a real answer were the multiple voices talking in unison:

_**Stop the fighting.**_

As for Optimus Prime he knew that the voices were the Mini-Cons and that they were the ones behind the rain. In the distance he could hear a few explosions going off, but it wasn't anything that worried him. He knew the Mini-Cons knew what they were doing and he trusted them.

"You _see_, Galvatron?" Optimus asked after turning to Galvatron. "The Mini-Cons are _trying_ to _protect _us."

"Yes, I see quite _clearly_." Galvatron agreed a smile on his face plate before turning to him. "Interesting ploy, but it _doesn't_fool me in the least, Optimus Prime."

Optimus did his best to control his frustration. Even after having seen solid _proof_ of what he was trying to tell Galvatron, the Decepticon leader _still_ didn't believe him.

'_What will it take for him to see the truth?_' Optimus thought.

As for Galvatron he had to commend Optimus for the clever trick he came up with. He could honestly say that he almost believed that what the Autobot leader told him was actually _true_, but then again it sounded very farfetched. But still, it had to be a lie. A plan to overpower him.

'_What if he _is _telling the truth?_' He wondered.

"_**Galvatron! Come in, sir! Can you read me?**_"

Galvatron frowned as soon as he heard the familiar voice of Demolishor on his comlink.

"What is it now?" He asked.

"_**This is so **_**bizarre**_**.**_" Demolishor told him."_**Whatever was attacking us is in full retreat. And it's because the Mini-Cons forced them **_**back**_**, sir!**_"

Galvatron gritted his dentas from what Demolishor told him. If what his soldier told him was correct then Optimus Prime's words had some truth to them. But that couldn't be right! There was no way that could be true at all.

"I still don't believe you, Prime. Not in the _least_." He told the Autobot leader. "Men, retreat!"

With that Galvatron warped out of the area, leaving Optimus alone. He decided that he and the rest of his team should do the same.

"Huh? Autobots, back to the ship!" Optimus looked to his right to see the black hole disappear, and as soon as it did the rain stopped as well. "I wasn't expecting this so soon."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Hmm... I wonder why they backed down." Thrust mused as both he and Starscream gazed at the green light. "I suppose those moronic _Mini-Cons_ didn't help when they gave_ away_the element of surprise."

"I suppose." Starscream agreed nonchalantly.

Thrust turned to face Starscream.

"Well, we better follow our _great _leader's order and…head back."

Thrust warped away, but Starscream stayed behind a little bit. He turned his gray optics to the green light again.

'_Was this really the Mini-Cons' doing?_' He thought.

Seeing that there was nothing left for him to do he warped back to where the Decepticons were.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"You Mini-Cons will pay for this... And it _won't_ be _pretty_!" Sideways growled before appearing in the form of his the hologram that was made up of the flurries from his Trans-phase mode. He was furious by the fact that the Mini-Cons interfered, but it only served as a minor setback in his plan.

'_Yes._' He thought, a grin forming behind his face mask. '_Nothing more than a minor setback. It makes no difference if they interfered or not, the conclusion will still be the same._'

"Hahahahaha! Hahahaha!"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

After the Autobots got back to the Axalon Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, Fred, and I met up with them in the hallway, along with being reunited with High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor.

"Aw, dudes, that was _sweet_!" Carlos said excitedly.

"Just goes to show ya, _even_ the little guys can win the _big_ one." Rad stated.

"You're right, Rad." Optimus agreed. "If it wasn't for the Mini-Cons, things might've turned out a lot different.

"Unicron is frightening." High Wire suddenly said.

"Huh_?_!"

It was obvious that Rad was confused, but I could honestly say that we all felt the same as well. But as for me I knew first hand how frightening Unicron was after having seen him in my dreams.

"Unicron will destroy."

"Will destroy space." Grindor suddenly said, taking us by surprise to find that High Wire wasn't the only Mini-Con we knew could talk.

"Ah, what do you mean by that?" Carlos asked, staring at his Mini-Con partner that stood in front of him.

As soon as I heard Sureshock bleeping I turned to see that the orange Mini-Con was standing in front of Alexis.

"Sureshock says they'll protect us." Alexis told us.

"Does that mean they're coming back for more, Optimus?" Rad asked, turning to the Autobot leader.

"I wish I could say no, Rad. But the Mini-Cons are right." Optimus answered. "It's not just the Decepticons anymore. Now Unicron has joined the battle for the universe."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Bah! Who cares about Unicron, anyway?" Galvatron asked, sitting on his throne with his servos resting on the end of the hilt of the Star Saber propped up in front of him. "Doesn't he know who I _am_?"

"But Galvatron-sir..." Demolishor started after turning to his leader. "What if - what if Unicron decides to come back?"

Galvatron narrowed his red optics at this.

"I cannot believe you _fell_ for that one, Demolishor." He turned to Demolishor and glared at him. "You are a _fool_. Unicron _doesn't_ exist, it's just an Autobot _trick_! Now, listen carefully to me. _Delete_ Unicron from that pea-sized brain and let's concentrate on _destroying _Optimus Prime!"

Galvatron slammed the tip on the Star Saber on the ground and growled angrily. But as for Thrust he couldn't help but grin behind his face mask from this.

'_Oh, _dear_ Galvatron, you are making this _easier_ than I ever imagined._' Thrust thought.'_Once _Unicron's_ power's fully awakened, the master plan will be fulfilled once and for _all_! Hahahahaha!_'

* * *

ATE: That's it for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this chapter. I got a few new drawings up on my deviantart page, but there's really one of them that I'd really want you to see (the other ones are just optional):

**http : / aerith -the- evenstar .deviantart. com/ gallery /3354 1587#/ d4np pf3 **

Please remember to review! ;D


	22. Dash

ATE: Hey everyone! Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, but I was mainly busy writing another story for a friend of mine (and or future story), but I finally managed to get this done today (well, I finished this yesterday on April 30). Still I'd like to thank **SeekerLuna**,** Sailor Shinzo**,** Crystalmaiden62**, **storygirl99210**,** Autobot-Bre**, and** Bumblebeecamaro38 **for their reviews one the last chapter and I hope everyone else will enjoy this chapter. Speaking about this chapter, it covers the events of Episode 45 (Dash) of Transformers Armada, but I added my own tweaks to it so that I made it a little more interesting. You'll see was soon enough. Plus, if any of you remember the episode itself, you'll probably remember the part where there was an animation error concerning Jetfire having the same color scheme as Optimus, for which I easily came up with a perfect explanation to the whole thing. Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

WARNING: There's a bit up ahead that adds to the reason why this story is rated M.

* * *

Chapter 22 - Dash

From where he was hiding behind the rubble Jetfire could see a bunch of Decepticon soldiers all around the place. He was just lucky enough to get to the hiding place he was in without being spotted by them all. He was tempted to try to get a closer look, but he decided not to push his luck at the moment. That only left him with one thing to do: contact the Autobots onboard the Axalon.

"Come in, Autobots!" Jetfire said after pressing the button to turn on his comlink.

It took awhile but eventually he was able to see the others in the bridge, the footage occasionally flickering in and out.

"**Jetfire, how did things look on the planet?**" Optimus asked over the comlink.

The shuttle mech couldn't help but smile behind his face mask. Optimus, always straight to the point. Jetfire turned back to the area and sighed when he remembered all the Decepticons that were around.

"Cybertron's being overrun with Decepticons." He explained. "Luckily, my position's safe, but…I dunno for how much longer."

"**Just stay out of sight.**"

"Roger." It was with that that Jetfire turned off his comlink. "What a rip-off." He grumbled quietly in irritation as he pulled his servo away so that it was at his side. "I'm the decorated _flying_ ace, and thanks to these _Decepticons_, I've been _grounded_. Let's see if I can turn things around."

Jetfire ducked down so that his back was leaning against the rubble he was hiding behind so that he could be completely hidden from the Decepticon soldiers. The only way he would be able to scout safely around here without being discovered by Decepticons was to _be _a Decepticon. And Jetfire had the perfect disguise ready. He pressed a button that was concealed underneath some armor plating on his arm and the color scheme of his body changed. His coloration was similar to Optimus' (to some extent), but in the place of the usual red Autobot symbol on his chest was a purple Decepticon symbol.

Jetfire suddenly thought about Valerie and how scared she had been after they had retrieved her along with Hot Shot and Red Alert from that planet. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't forget what she told him:

**_He's after me, Jetfire. He's coming for me_. **

Just knowing that Sideways was after her was enough to make Jetfire overly protective of his sparkmate. Just recalling her fearful expressions made him realize just how grave her situation was at this time; which is why he would go to any lengths just to keep her safe. If he could he would've brought her with him on this reconnaissance mission, but sadly he wasn't able to due to a few good reasons that he (as much as he hated to admit it) would have agreed with: there was the fact that he was going into enemy territory and bringing her with him would've put her in danger if the Decepticons found out about her, then there was her well-being that he'd have to be concerned about, and lastly if he was forced to engage the enemy he'd have to constantly make sure nothing happened to her or that she wasn't killed while he was distracted, or the fact that she would've been considered a distraction and his mission would've been compromised. Jetfire sighed, knowing how hard it was to keep his sparkmate safe.

'_I just hope Valerie's doing okay._' He thought before heading out into the open.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"I wonder what's gonna happen now." Billy said as we all stared out the window at all the Mini-Cons floating around outside.

"Stressful times like these call for large quantities of comfort food." Fred announced.

I mentally sighed.

"I just wanna know if the Mini-Cons are still on our _side _or not." At least Billy decided to ignore Fred.

"Well, somehow I kinda doubt all those Mini-Cons are here just to fight the Decepticons." Rad stated.

I gaze shifted down to Cybertron's surface and I could see lights flickering, knowing full well that they were actually explosions going off due to the war taking place below.

"Those lights." Alexis started.

"Huh?" Rad said as I saw him turn to Alexis.

"Watching those lights flicker makes me wonder how many transformers are disappearing down there."

Alexis had a point as we all turned to her. How many transformers were dying from this war? Hundreds, thousands, millions? Just how many were dying each day and possibly leaving loved ones behind? How many more would die before this war came to an end? It was sad that this war had been going on for millions of years now, and yet there were still battles raging on like a large inferno that refused to be doused by a drop of water. To think that Jetfire had lived through all this from the time he was born to the present day. He had never known true peace and the only time he had anything resembling it was when he was on Earth, but even then those times were short and few. Was it possible to say that all he had known most of his life was war? That the last 70,000 years had been dedicated to the conflict taking place below us?

"That's right." Carlos said as he turned back to the window. "Those flashing lights are from all the fighting that's going on."

"That's terrible." Fred said.

"Yeah." Rad agreed. "So we came all this way just to watch _this_? So what are we supposed to _do_? We left Earth thinking that we could be of some use out here, but I dunno." He placed his hands on the window before leaning forward in an attempt to get a closer look. "Ugh, at this rate, I just don't know anymore."

"Rad?" Carlos asked. "Huh?" He went quiet for a bit before talking again. "Hot Shot? Hey, Hot Shot!"

"Huh?" The rest of us said as we turned to see Hot Shot walking down the hallway before going around the corner. He didn't seem to notice or heard us.

"Huh? Hey, what's with him? Is he mad at us or something?" Carlos asked. "Hey, why is he ignoring us?"

We all decided to follow Hot Shot to wherever he was going and we eventually found him in the room with all the pods, which he happened to be standing next to one of them.

"Hot Shot!" Rad called out.

"Huh?" Hot Shot turned to look at us from where we stood in the doorway.

"Are you leaving?" He asked after taking a step forward.

We all turned to Rad.

"What? But what about the others, Rad?" Carlos asked.

"I think Hot Shot's going to take matters into his own_ hands_. He's all geared up to head right through the Decepticon frontline."

"What?" We exclaimed.

"Is that true, Hot Shot?" Fred asked.

"You _nuts_?" Billy asked.

"Don't worry, I can do it." Hot Shot told us as he turned to face us completely.

"Hot Shot, don't go. It's far too dangerous." Alexis begged.

"Yeah, Galvatron wouldn't listen to Optimus so he sure won't listen to you!" Fred added.

"You can't change his mind, Alexis." Billy stated.

"Aw, come on!" Hot Shot protested slightly. "I gotta give it at least one more try. Don't I?"

I couldn't believe how persistent Hot Shot was being right now, but I didn't have time to say anything about it when I heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

"So _that's _what you're up to!" We turned around to see Red Alert standing behind us.. "I've been worried about you, Hot Shot. That's why I came back here."

"Sorry, Big Red. You can't talk me out of this one."

With that Hot Shot turned around to head over to the pod he had been standing next to earlier.

"You can't just _leave_. Please, don't go, Hot Shot." Carlos pleaded.

"C'mon, stay with us. Can't someone else go instead of you?" Alexis asked.

"No!" Hot Shot said as he suddenly stopped. "I'm the only one who can do this."

"You're not making any sense. What is it that you're hoping to accomplish?" I asked.

Hot Shot was quiet for a bit before he spoke.

"Right now we can't land on planet Cybertron. I'll do my best to persuade Galvatron. If I can't convince him, it'll at least buy us some time. Hopefully by then we'll be able to make our way back to our planet."

"But - you'll miss _dinner_!" Fred said.

"And you might not make it _back_!" Billy added.

"Let him go." Rad suddenly said, causing us to turn to him. He shook his lowered head. "He'll be all right, guys. Hot Shot's smart, he knows how to take care of himself. He should go." He looked up at Hot Shot. "If I were a Transformer, I'd do the _same_ thing to save my friends. We should all give him our support. He could be our last chance for peace. The Autobots helped save the Earth and I _really_ wish I could help save their planet." I was surprised when Rad suddenly got frustrated. "But there's nothing I can do! Errr, I wanna help out some way, but I can't do anything! I can't _stand _it!" Rad sighed as if letting out his frustration like he did made him feel better now that he voiced his thoughts.

"Aw, take it easy, Rad." Carlos said as if trying to calm his friend down.

Fred groaned for some reason that I hope to never know about.

"Hey, Red Alert... You gotta let Hot Shot go to the planet." Rad said after calming down.

"Well, I was going to go with him. But I'd probably just get in his way." Red Alert admitted, which was something that surprised me.

"That's right." Hot Shot said after turning to Red Alert.

"Red Alert!" We exclaimed as we turned to the transformer standing behind us with shocked expressions.

"You serious?" Billy asked.

"All right, I'll cover for you!" Red Alert said, surprising us with his determination.

"Huh?" I get the feeling that even Hot Shot was surprised by what Red Alert said.

I looked at Red Alert before turning to Hot Shot and then back to Red Alert.

"I hope you don't get in trouble for this." I said.

_(Later…)_

"What_?_!" Hoist exclaimed as he turned to face Red Alert in shock. "You let Hot Shot go off on his own to meet with Galvatron_?_!"

"I had to let him go, Hoist." Red Alert said, turning to look at Optimus. "If anything happens, I'll take full responsibility for it."

As you can see we were in the bridge and had told the other Autobots about Hot Shot. I had to give credit to Red Alert for sending out a decoy pod out of the whip while the real pod Hot Shot was in was disguised as a meteorite. It was very clever on his part.

"Didn't ya try to _stop_ him_?_!" Sideswipe asked, holding his arms out.

Red Alert turned to Sideswipe.

"I made a decision and I'm standing by it." He stated.

"Hmm?"

"Well you were wrong!" Hoist said, causing Red Alert and Sideswipe to turn to him. "And _I'm _going after him!"

"No!" Scavenger told him, catching Hoist's attention. "I think it's important that we stay together right now. Hot Shot can take care of himself."

"What_?_! No _way_!" Alexis protested. "Hot Shot is doing this for all of you. He needs your help!"

"Yeah! She's right! You can't just _leave _him out there." Carlos agreed.

"It's too risky to follow him." Blurr told us and we turned to him. "The Decepticons will be all over us."

"But what if Hot Shot can convince Galvatron to _join_ us_?_!" Rad asked. "Then we've still got a chance!"

"I doubt that will happen." Scavenger said.

"Huh_?_!" It was obvious that Rad was confused as he turned to Scavenger.

"He could get lucky, but Galvatron has already made his mind up and I don't think he'll be changing it now." He explained. "We'll just have to accept the situation we're in and adjust our strategy."

"Hmmm... Sounds good to me." Blurr calmly agreed.

My friends groaned quietly, but I didn't. I just couldn't understand why Rad contradicted himself just now. Wasn't he the one that told Red Alert that Hot Shot should be allowed to go by himself, or was he now having second thoughts about what he said? It makes me wonder how his thought process worked.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Hot Shot grinned as the disguised pod he was in flew by the Decepticon ships after the decoy had been shot down.

"Hey, thanks a lot, Red Alert. I owe ya one." Hot Shot said as he continued his course to Cybertron. Eventually he managed to land on Cybertron without any problems. "It's all or nothin' now." He reached up and punched in the combination to open the pod's hatch as soon as it came to a stop and didn't hesitate to get out. "Let's do this, Hot Shot!"

Hot Shot then ran off and soon took cover behind some rubble when he spotted three Decepticon shoulders guarding the entrance leading into their base.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Give me a break! Everywhere I look, all I see are Decepticon ships!" Hoist complained. It was true. Just looking at the main monitor showed us all the Decepticon ships there were currently, putting us at a huge disadvantage by outnumbering us. I hung my head. Even I knew that the Axalon couldn't take them all on by itself. Suddenly a beeping sound started going and Hoist turned to where it was coming from. "Huh?"

"**Optimus!**"

I held back a gasp as my head shot up from hearing the familiar voice, and sure enough I saw Jetfire on the main monitor (the footage would flicker occasionally), but what confused me was the fact that the coloration of his body was completely different than what it usually was…and it almost made him look like Optimus.

"**I've scouted a landing position. I'll mark the location.**" Jetfire announced.

The main monitor flickered twice before the image of Jetfire was replaced with what appeared to be diagram of a section of Cybertron that also showed the elevation of the surface, along a red arrow pointing out the location. I was completely in awe of it that it was hard to believe that the transformers used these kinds of things everyday and thought nothing of it.

"Locking onto the co-ordinates. It looks like fairly weak defenses from here." Sideswipe said before turning around in his chair to face Optimus. "This could be our big chance."

"All right. Let's go." Optimus said before turning his gaze away from Sideswipe in order to look up at the main monitor.

"Yessir!" Blurr said, acknowledging Optimus' order before piloting the Axalon on its course to Cybertron.

As the Axalon approached Cybertron the Decepticon ships started to fire on us.

"Oh man, this is a pretty rough welcoming." Hoist said. "I hope Hot Shot's doing better than we are - that he's made it through the Decepticons' frontlines okay."

I quietly cried out in fright as the ship shook more violently than before from the attack. Along with Alexis, Rad, Carlos, Billy, and Fred we all held onto something in an attempt to feel some sort of stability.

"Everything will be all right! Hang on!" Red Alert told us.

"I feel _sick_!" Billy complained.

"And I've gotta barf!" Fred added.

For some strange reason the Mini-Cons outside the Axalon started to gather together into groups.

"Here come the Mini-Cons!" Blurr said.

"What are they trying to _do _out there?" Sideswipe asked.

To all of our surprise the multiple groups of Mini-Cons that were outside were suddenly replaced with copies of the Axalon. Our surprise was replaced with a few cheers.

"That's the way!" Hoist said excitedly. "The Mini-Cons have got them _really _confused!"

"Good move…" Optimus said, sounding impressed.

"This battle could go either way. Both sides are equally powerful." Scavenger stated.

That was good. Now we actually had a chance of getting through this thanks to the Mini-Cons. The enemy ships seemed to be confused and started firing at the fake Axalons. Despite this turn of events I started feeling anxious. Why was I feeling this way?

'_Maybe I should leave the bridge for a bit to get away from all this stimulation._' I thought to myself.

I carefully got out of my seat and left the bridge. After walking down the hallways I eventually stopped in front of the large window where I could see all the Decepticon ships firing at the Axalon copies as we passed them. I frowned slightly, knowing that the Mini-Cons were risking their lives just to help us reach Cybertron safely.

'_I just…hope they'll be okay._'

I felt the blood drain from my face when I heard the familiar dark chuckle in my mind, causing fear to seize my body.

_**{This is war, sweet Valerie. And in wars there will always be casualties despite how hard you try to avoid them. It's a concept of war that those unfortunate enough get ensnared by it.} **_Sideways said.

I tensed up when I suddenly felt the sensation of arms wrapping around me from behind, but when I twisted around I found no one standing behind me and that I was still the only one here. It was like whoever was doing this was invisible. And I wasn't able to move around much either.

_**{Shh…}**_ My breathing hitched when I heard his voice whisper right next to my ear and my heart started hammering inside my chest in fear. And it was then I realized that the 'invisible' arms wrapped around me were his. How was he doing this when he wasn't even here physically? _**{I'm not going to do anything to you…for now. Look out the window.}**_ Not knowing what he'd do (and fearing the worse) if I didn't look out, I looked out the window and watched the conflict of the battle taking place outside. _**{Can you see it? The beauty of all this chaos and the elegance of war before your eyes? It's nothing short of art, beautiful and colorful art. Just like your dancing.}**_

'_But my dancing doesn't cause chaos and war._' I said feebly. '_It makes people feel at peace and happy._'

_**{That's nothing more than the childish notions of a fool! And believe me, I know you're not a fool.}**_

I quietly gasped when I felt a hand move down to a certain area between my legs, but it felt as if I wasn't wearing my spacesuit to block the touch; I could feel it slowly rubbing me.

'_N-no! Not again!_' I cried fearfully.

_**{Can you honestly consider yourself a child after everything you've experienced thus far, along with all the atrocities you've witness? This fear of yours… It is so sweet, yet I can't seem to think of anything to compare it to. Maybe honey mixed with sugar. Yes, I believe that would be the best analogy that your human mind can comprehend.}**_

'_Stop! Let me go!_'

I was surprised to surprised when the hand pulled away, but my relief was short lived when I suddenly felt cold lips being pressed to the side of my neck (again, seeming as if it my spacesuit wasn't covering me). It was the same as the way Jetfire had always done it, but it was cold and lacking any emotion behind it. But even then it still made me feel extremely uncomfortable and I desperately wanted to get away from Sideways.

'_Jetfire!_'

The cold lips pulled away, only to feel a hand constrict my throat and causing me to gag.

_**{Even now you still call to that fool. But you need to remember that as soon as your time comes you'll belong to me and Unicron only. When that happens that Autobot will no longer be any of your concern.}**_

I knew Sideways left since the hold around me and my throat disappeared and I was left gasping for air I desperately needed. And despite how hard I tried not to cry a few tears fell from my eyes.

'_Jetfire… I'm scared…_' I thought.

More tears fell when I suddenly felt the reassurance he was sending me through our connection. He had no idea what happened between me and Sideways.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Thrust stood in front of Galvatron in the Decepticon leader's throne room after having placed the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster on the pedestals of the new mini Hydra Cannon. All that was missing was the Star Saber.

"The mini version of the Hydra Cannon is complete!" Thrust told him.

"Excellent…" Galvatron said.

"Now, your Star Saber…"

"Very well."

"Perfect..." Thrust said quietly.

"Thrust!"

"H-!" Thrust stumbled over his words a bit and hoped that Galvatron hadn't heard what he said a while ago.

"Take it!" Galvatron said, holding the Star Saber out to Thrust. "But be careful."

Suddenly there was a loud sound and Thrust, Galvatron, and Starscream all turned to see Hot Shot on the floor while Wheeljack stood in the threshold of the large hole that was now in the wall from when he punched the Autobot.

"Huh_?_!" Both Galvatron and Thrust said.

Hot Shot lifted his head up from the floor so he could look up at the Decepticon leader.

"Galvatron!" Hot Shot said.

Much to his surprise Galvatron ran and jumped off the platform his throne was on while brandishing the Star Saber.

"An Autobot!" Galvatron yelled. Hot Shot could do nothing but stare at his impending doom with wide blue optics as the familiar blade of the Star Saber got closer. But what surprised him even more was when Wheeljack suddenly stepped in front of him and blocked the Star Saber with his own weapon. "Wheeljack! What is this_?_!"

"Wait, Galvatron! The Autobot wants to talk to you!" Wheeljack said.

"What is the meaning of this?" Galvatron demanded.

"You must believe me, Galvatron! I would never betray you. Please trust me."

"Would you get out of my way_?_!"

"No, I will not, sir! You must listen to what Hot Shot has to say to you!"

'_Wheeljack…_' Hot Shot thought in surprise.

"Aw, don't tell me you _let _this Autobot in here!"

"Yes, I did, but my loyalty is to you, just as it always has been."

"Galvatron! Get _away _from them!" Hot Shot turned to where the voice came from and saw that it was Thrust, who happened to be standing near some sort of machine. "It's some kind of trap!"

It was then that Demolishor, Cyclonus, and Tidal Wave entered the throne room through the hole in the wall, and they were immediately confused about what was taking place.

"What's going on?" Demolishor asked, turning to Cyclonus.

"I dunno!" Cyclonus answered.

Hot Shot heard Galvatron growl before lowering the Star Saber.

"What_?_! Don't trust Wheeljack, he's in league with the Autobots!" Thrust protested, causing Galvatron to turn and face him. "Optimus Prime can't be far behind! You must destroy them _both_ at _once_!"

"Hmmm…" Galvatron hummed quietly in suspicious at this, but still managed to glare at him.

"Gah!" Thrust squeaked as he flinched in surprise.

"You may speak to me, Autobot." Galvatron said, turning to Hot Shot. "But you had better not try anything funny - or you will pay."

Hot Shot smiled at this as he felt hopeful, but when Galvatron glared at him with his red optics (while growling quietly) his smile disappeared. He knew that he shoulder press his luck, especially after having come this far already.

'_Here goes nothing._' Hot Shot thought.

"This is a message to the great Galvatron, general of the Decepticon army." He started. "The Autobots and Decepticons have fought against one another for a long time. But there's another enemy that we both must be concerned about. The Mini-Cons have shown us that we all share a common foe, the one called Unicron."

"Oohh! Not more of that _Unicron _nonsense!" Thrust scoffed, only to have Galvatron suddenly point the Star Saber dangerously close to him.. "Gaah!"

"I'm going tired of listening to your _drivel_!" Galvatron said, clearly annoyed by Thrust.

"Huh_?_!" Starscream said quietly, taking a step forward in surprise.

Galvatron turned back to Hot Shot.

"You may go ahead and finish what you were saying. Now you won't be interrupted again. So just who _is _this Unicron?"

Hot Shot nodded. He appreciated the fact that Galvatron was making sure he wouldn't be interrupted again.

"He's the one who's responsible for creating the black hole. Somehow the Mini-Cons learned about the existence of Unicron and began to prepare for an attack a long time ago." Hot Shot explained.

"How would the Mini-Cons know so much about this _Unicron _character?" Cyclonus asked, making Hot Shot glance at him over his shoulder.

"I don't know the answer to that yet. I do know the reason the Mini-Cons came _back_ to planet Cybertron and that was to fight Unicron." Hot Shot turned to look back up at Galvatron. "The Autobots are no longer interested in fighting the Decepticon army. Believe me! If we don't join forces now, both our armies _and _the Mini-Cons become victims of Unicron! Galvatron, we have a new enemy now!"

"Oh, that's _rich_! Galvatron, _please_ let me blast him so we can launch the _Hydra Cannon_!" Thrust exclaimed, causing Galvatron to turn and glare at him as he growled quietly. "Galvatron! Don't tell me you actually _believe _this Autobot!"

"I have noticed you have been acting _very_ nervous, Thrust. What's going on?" Galvatron asked.

"We - muh - uh, nothing! Nothing at _all_!" Thrust said a little too quickly for everyone's liking.

"This new device isn't exactly Transformer technology." Galvatron glanced at the mini Hydra Cannon. He turned to Thrust after hearing him gasp quietly. "I'm talking about the Hydra Cannon!"

Thrust started laughing nervously.

"Why did you tell me to lead the Decepticons_?_! And I've always wanted to know why you encouraged me to turn against Galvatron, too." Starscream said, glaring at Thrust as he walked up the steps toward him. "Was it another one of your schemes to put you at a more _favorable _position with our leader?"

"Starscream! _Whatever _are you talking about?" Thrust asked, just as the seeker stopped in front of him.

"You've been plotting against me all along. Admit it!"

"Do you know what's going on here?" Demolishor asked.

"Eh, eh, uhh, don't ask me. Ask the big guy." Cyclonus said.

"Who knows?" Tidal Wave said.

"Thrust, what _have_ you been plotting behind my _back_?" Galvatron asked, walking up the steps with the Star Saber.

"Wh - I - I haven't been plotting _anything_! I'm your _loyal _deputy, Galvatron!" Thrust said.

"You can't fool me anymore." Galvatron stopped and stood in front of Starscream a ways away from him. "I know you're more underhanded than _that_."

To everyone's surprise Thrust suddenly grabbed the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom Shield from the pedestals they were sitting on just before Galvatron slashed the Hydra Cannon with the Star Saber and leaving the machine useless.

Both Cyclonus and Demolishor gasped.

"Why'd he do that?" Demolishor asked.

"Heh, heh, heh! Galvatron, you were never _worthy_ of controlling the Transformers!" Thrust said. "I've got news for you, you're _nothing_ compared to my _true _master, UNICRON!"

"What_?_! _Unicron__?_! You traitor." Galvatron growled.

"I was _actually_ planning on getting a hold of all _three_ weapons, including the Star Saber. But I'm _sure _Unicron will be happy with what I've got."

Thrust suddenly caused a strong wind to appear and it the force was so strong that it pushed everyone back. During all this chaos Thrust merely laughed before turning invisible in order to make his escape. As soon as the wind stopped Galvatron stood up with the Star Saber still in his servo.

"Hurry! Close the gates! Don't let him get away!" Galvatron demanded loudly in his anger.

Hot Shot watched as the other Decepticons in the room scrambled around and it was discovered that Thrust had escaped underground. This had all gone wrong and he had been so close to convincing Galvatron to team up with the Autobots.

"You almost had Galvatron convinced."

Hot Shot turned to look at his former friend before looking away and lowering his head in shame.

"Sorry, Wheeljack." Hot Shot said quietly. "Thrust. I didn't know."

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's a good thing we found out about Thrust now, rather than later, Hot Shot." Wheeljack told him. "Now we know the_ real _enemy."

"Yeah, well I'd sure like to know what he plans to do with the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster."

Wheeljack turned to the hole.

"He must've gone to meet Unicron. That has to be it."

Hot Shot turned to Wheeljack.

"There's only one way to find out, Wheeljack." Hot Shot said, causing Wheeljack to turn to him.

"Right! Let's go together."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Everyone on the Axalon were glad that they finally managed to land on Cybertron without much trouble, and it was thanks to the Mini-Cons. Optimus and the others (minus Red Alert and Blurr) were talking with a group of Autobot soldiers that had been in hiding.

"I'm issuing a withdrawal order to everyone stationed here." Optimus announced.

"A withdrawal order? Are you sure, sir?" An Autobot soldier asked.

"That's what I said. Now hurry up! You're all in great danger if you stay on the planet!"

"Uhh, but sir -" Another Autobot soldier (a blue one) started, only to be interrupted by Hoist who had been standing next to him.

"He said move out, soldier! And don't you ever question the commander's orders again!" Hoist told him.

"Yessir." The soldier said before saluting. "Right away, sir."

Optimus turned to both Jetfire and Sideswipe.

"Jetfire, Sideswipe, you two take the lead." Optimus ordered.

"Yessir!" Both Jetfire and Sideswipe said as they saluted. They then walked off.

The kids (who were wearing their helmets) stood in the doorway of the Axalon as they observed what was happening.

"Hey, where's Hot Shot?" Alexis asked, sounding worried.

"We should rescue him." Fred said.

"Yeah, we should!" Carlos agreed.

"We can't do that." Optimus told them before walking off.

"But Optimus!" Rad cried.

"Deep inside, Optimus appreciates what Hot Shot did for us today." Scavenger said after turning to the kids. "But he's the Commander of the Autobot army and he can't play favorites. It's a difficult position to be in."

After having said this Scavenger walked off to talk to Hoist. But it was then that the kids realized something.

"Wait, where's Valerie?" Billy asked.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire was relieved once he and Sideswipe were away from the others so they could deliver Optimus' commands to the other Autobot soldiers. It was strange since some of the soldiers had been ones he'd trained in the past, but he wasn't going to worry about that. He had bigger things to worry about and rookies weren't anywhere on the list. When they were alone Jetfire turned to Sideswipe.

"Hey, Sideswipe. I need you to do something for me." Jetfire said.

"What do you want me to do?" Sideswipe asked, looking confused.

"I'm going to open the compartment on my back and I want you to pull out whatever's inside."

Jetfire turned around so that his back was facing Sideswipe before opening his back compartment, only to hear the younger Autobot's gasp of surprise by what he found.

"Valerie?" He exclaimed. "What's she doing here, Jetfire?"

Knowing that Sideswipe already pulled Valerie out Jetfire closed the compartment before turning around to face them and seeing Valerie held in his servo.

"I just happened to bring her along with me, Sideswipe." Jetfire stated.

"I can see that, but is Optimus even _aware _of this?"

"No. And if you tell him about this, you can bet I'll make you regret it."

"Okay, I'm not going to say anything! But why did you bring her with you?"

"That's something personal that I'm not planning on telling you. All you need to know is that you can go ahead without me for a bit while I go and show her something."

In the end Sideswipe handed Valerie over to Jetfire before he left, leaving the two of them alone.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As soon as Sideswipe left I looked up at Jetfire's face from where I was while being held in his hand. He glanced down at me with his gold optics before he started walking off through the area we were in.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Somewhere." Jetfire answered simply.

"But _where_?"

"You'll see soon enough, Skydancer. But I'm not gonna spoil the surprise."

I sighed at this, slumping my shoulders as I realized Jetfire wasn't going to tell me. I then remembered his appearance when he had contacted the Axalon earlier and looked back up at him.

"Why were your colors different?" I asked.

"Wha?" Jetfire looked down at me, looking confused. "Colors?"

"Yes. Your body was a different color than it usually was and it almost looked like Optimus'."

Jetfire's optics widened as he realized what I was talking about.

"Oh, _that_! That was merely a disguise that I came up with thousands of years ago in case I'd have to do reconnaissance in Decepticon territory. This is the first time I've really used it and it worked to my advantage."

Eventually we came upon a building that was still intact and I couldn't help but wondering why we were here. Jetfire went up to the door and pressed a switch that was placed right next to it like a doorbell would be on a normal house. But instead of hearing a dinging or a buzzing sound the large door (to me) in front of us hissed open before Jetfire walked in. He pressed another switch to close the door behind us and I was soon able to get a better look of the room we were in. Off to the left was what appeared to be a couch that faced a machine that reminded me of a TV, giving me the impression that this was a living room of someone's home.

'_But whose home?_' I thought, still looked around for any clues that could answer my question.

I eventually found my answer in the form of a photo hanging on a nearby wall after Jetfire walked a little further into the room and my eyes widened in surprise.

"This is…your home." I said, feeling sad as I stared at the photo of Astera and a baby Jetfire who looked as if he was learning to walk. And there was another photo of Astera gazing lovingly down at the form of a sleeping baby Jetfire that she cradled in her arms.

"Yeah. The same one I grew up in." Jetfire said, sounding nostalgic. "I…haven't come back here in 70,000 years."

"You mean you've avoided coming back to this place for so long?"

Jetfire was quiet as he started walking further into the house and into what looked like a kitchen. He pulled a chair out at the table and was about to sit down in it, but he suddenly jerked away from it as if he just burned himself. I glanced up at his face and was surprised to see the terrified look his wide optics expressed as he just stared at the chair, or better yet the table itself, before him. I noticed that he was shaking slightly in anxiousness. What was wrong with him? I've never seen him like this before. Sure I've seen him scared before, but nothing like this.

"Jetfire, what's wrong-?"

Jetfire suddenly ran out of the kitchen and down a hallway. Despite the fact that I was held in his hand I still held on for dear life from how sudden the actions were. He soon entered a room that had a single berth, a datapad sitting on a desk against the wall, and a few photos placed on a shelf and a wall. I soon found myself standing on top of the berth that Jetfire was now kneeling in front of as he held his head with both of his hands, his optics still wide with that terrified look in them and his body still shaking as he let out jagged breaths. I knew something was terribly wrong with Jetfire, but I couldn't sense what since he blocked his end of the connection from me.

"Too many memories… There's too many memories…" He muttered to himself.

"Jetfire, what are you talking about?" I asked quietly.

"There's too many memories in this place… They won't go away…"

My eyes widened when I started to realize what Jetfire was saying. Was he remembering what happened here 70,000 years ago? Had he been avoiding his old home because of the memories he was being assaulted by before my eyes? Were they really that strong to have such an affect on him? I honestly didn't know what to do, but I had to help him somehow. It was hard for me to see him like this while he was being tormented by what must've occurred here so long ago. Had coming here made him realize he hadn't accepted Astera's death?

"I couldn't save her… I was right there and I still couldn't save her… I was weak…! I WAS TOO WEAK!"

I jumped when Jetfire suddenly yelled before he leaned his forehead against the side of the berth I stood on. I became sad as I found myself gazing at the broken soldier I had seen a while back, the same one that was still dwelling in the past. I thought I wouldn't see him again, but there he was in front of me, still unable to come to terms with what happened and blaming himself for it.

"Jetfire…" I said quietly, slowly going over to his head and placing both of my hands on top of it. I was surprised when he lifted his head up to look at me with that sorrowful look in his gold optics. I've never seen him look so lost before, but I managed to pull his head closer to me as I spread my arms around the front of his face mask. I pressed the side of my face (although the helmet I wore prevented me from doing a better job with this) against his face mask before closing my eyes. "Shh… It's okay, Jetfire. You did what you could back then, and she knows you tried. You can't keep dwelling in the past or else it'll make the pain even more worse that it already is. I know it's hard to do right now, but you need to accept what happened if you want to move forward."

"I…I can't! It hurts too much!"

"I know it hurts right now, Jetfire. But once you've overcome the pain you'll be even more stronger than you were before. You've always told me to be strong and brave whenever I felt weak or scared. You told me to think of my name whenever I felt that way. Now it's your turn to think of my name." I sighed quietly. "Just think of my name, Jetfire. Remember what it means and how it makes you feel."

I didn't know if what I said would help Jetfire, but I suddenly felt his end of the connection start to open little by little. Was it working? I started humming the Cybertronian Lullaby to him, hoping that it would help him through this. Before long I felt his face mask nuzzling me before a large hand was placed against my back (as if to give me a hug) and I soon noticed that he felt calm and somewhat relaxed.

"Thank you, Valerie." Jetfire said quietly. "The memories of that day might not go away, but the majority of the pain is gone. I owe you so much that I'm indebt."

I opened my eyes and pulled my head away to look at him, seeing that he was gazing at me with his optics. I gave him a small smile, knowing full well what he meant.

"You don't owe me anything." I told him. "You've done so much for me already that I'm just returning the favor. Now we're even."

"Even…" Jetfire pulled his head away before he scooped me up in his hand and held me close to his spark. "You've grown and matured so much since day 1, Even now I'm still learning from you and usually I'm the one coaching you."

"There's still a lot we can learn from each other. That's how we come to understand each other."

"You're right." Jetfire was quiet as he seemed to be thinking. "You're my second chance…"

"Huh?" I looked up at Jetfire's face in confusion.

"I wasn't able to protect Mom 70,000, but this time I'll be able to protect you. I swear I'll always protect you. You're too valuable for me to lose."

I smiled before spreading my arms out along his chest. I was aware that he would always protect me, but… I shook my head. I didn't want to think about that right now. This was a happy moment and I didn't want to ruin it with what's to come.

"Thank you, Jetfire." I said. I then glanced around the room we were in. "Whose room is this?"

"Mine!" Jetfire answered. I felt my face heat up at this and he chuckled. "I'm surprised, Skydancer. Usually I'm the one to have those kinds of thoughts, but I never expected _you _to have them!"

"W-what? I-I'm not…!"

"I was _kidding_! You don't need to get so flustered or anything."

It still didn't stop my face from feeling so warm.

"Why do you always tease me?" I asked.

"Because you're so fun to tease and your reactions are entertaining to watch. Although there _is _another way I _could _tease you…"

My face got even warmer as I realized what he was implying. Jetfire laughed at my reaction before he left the room to show me the rest of his old home.

* * *

ATE: That's it for this chapter. I'll be honest with all of you guys. When I was writing the last scene it took an unpredictable turn as the idea literally came out of nowhere. It was a good thing that I finished the chapter before I had to go take my second to last final for this semester. At least this Wednesday will be my last final and I'll be free as a bird for the summer! Also I got another drawing done awhile back to show Jetfire in his "Decepticon Disguise". Here's a link (get rid of the spaces):

http : / aerith -the- evenstar .deviant art. com /art/ Jetfire -Decepticon- Disguise -2994 670 98

Please remember to review! ;D


	23. Drift

ATE: I am so sorry for taking so long to update TDATS, but I finally finished chapter 23 (which covers the events of episode 46 of Armada). I wanna thank **Crystalmaiden62**,** Bee4ever**,** Sailor Shinzo**, **SeekerLuna, Autobot NightFury, Autobot-Bre (), storygirl99210, Diamond White, tfandanimefan,** and** Bumblebeecamaro38 **for reviewing the previous chapter. Enjoy.

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers or Transformers Armada. I only own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

* * *

Chapter 23 - Drift

"Are you going to be fine by yourself?" I asked, gazing up at Jetfire's face from where I was being held in his large hand. At the moment he was taking me back to the Axalon.

Jetfire chuckled.

"Of course I'll be fine! I'm the decorated flying ace of the Autobots after all!" He told me.

I frowned slightly.

"That's not what I meant and you know it, Jetfire."

"I know exactly what you meant, Skydancer, and as I already said I'll be fine. But who I'm _really_ worried about the most is you." I watched as his optics took on a serious expression before he lowered his voice a bit. "We both know that Sideways will be coming after you now and I promised your parents that I'd keep you safe. Slag, I even _swore _to protect you myself if it ever comes down to the nitty-gritty stuff involved in it all."

"I know…" I lowered my head.

_**{But to be honest with you, I'm a little scared myself.}**_ Jetfire told me, causing me to look back up to his face again.

'_You're scared?_' I asked, surprised that he was admitting the fact that he was actually _scared_ about something. '_You don't look like it._'

**_{And for good reason. Just admitting it to you was hard enough as it is. But I'm only a _little _scared.}_**

"I still need to get you back onboard the Axalon since the others don't even know you left besides Sideswipe, but you already know how I dealt with him." Jetfire said out loud.

"True. Just be careful out there, okay? You know I can't help worrying about you despite how much you tell me not to."

"Which is exactly _why_ I tell you to not worry so much. And I'll be fine as long as I know you're safe."

I couldn't help but blush as this, but despite it all I still smiled, knowing that Jetfire meant every word he said. I just wish I could've met him sooner than I did back on we arrived back at the Axalon where Jetfire helped me sneak back on before he left to continue the evacuation. I was actually on my way to Jetfire's quarters when I ran into Alexis (thankfully not literally).

"Where've you been, Valerie? I've been looking all over for you!" Alexis told me.

"I was…in the bathroom…?" I tried.

Alexis placed her hands on her hips and I knew she didn't buy my excuse.

"It doesn't take a person _that _long to go to the bathroom. Where were you _really_?"

I looked around to make sure we were alone before leaning forward to whisper in Alexis' ear, telling her where I really was the whole time. When I was done I pulled away to see that her green eyes were wide.

"You were with Jetfire this whole time?" She whispered.

"Yes." I nodded. A thought soon came into my head. "Hey, Alexis? Is it okay for me to use the shower in your room? It's been awhile since I've had a chance to get one."

Alexis smiled.

"Sure thing." Alexis then lowered her voice. "And if I'm right you've been staying with Jetfire in his room this whole time, so it probably wasn't easy to get a shower in the first place."

"Believe me, it wasn't. I have to rely on him to lift me up to the nightstand where my bed is."

"Which makes me wonder." She suddenly had a sly smile. "What _have _you two been doing in there _besides_ sleeping at night?"

"Alexis!" My face heated up. "We haven't _done _anything like that!"

"Well, there's got to be a reason why you're being so defensive right now." She started poking me in the arm, still keeping her voice low. "C'mon, spill already! What have you two done so far? You know I won't stop bugging you until you tell me."

My face got warmer.

"We've...only cuddled up and slept together in the same bed while he used his holoform… But we've always done that before…" I told her.

"Have you two kissed?" Despite the fact I was blushing I still nodded my head. "Is he a good kisser?"

My face got even more warmer than it already was, but Alexis already knew what my answer was even though I didn't say anything. After a bit of walking we arrived at Alexis' room and she let me use her shower. I felt my muscles relax as I stood under the hot water, but then I thought about Jetfire and what happened when we were at his home. I sighed quietly before sitting down and letting the water rain down on me.

'_I can't stop worrying about you, Jetfire. Even though you told me not to._' I thought.

I felt Jetfire's presence in my mind along with the mental hug he was giving me. I relaxed as I felt the comforting warmth that he was sending me through our connection and held onto it.

_**{Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be able to get you to stop worrying so much.}**_ Jetfire told me.

I smiled a small smile at this.

'_You know I can't do that. You're out there risking your life and have been doing so for so long._' I sighed. '_Aren't I pathetic? You're always protecting me and done so much for me._'

_**{You're not pathetic at all. And why do you make it sound like me protecting you is such a chore?}**_

'_Because I'm so useless and weak! I'm constantly needing to be saved whenever I'm in danger and I'm barely able to do anything to defend myself! I've become so dependent on you to be there for me that I can't do anything on my own, just like when I was on that planet with Hot Shot and Red Alert! You had to constantly tell me to be strong because I was too scared to even function!_'

It wasn't until I was done saying that that I realized I was crying and I ended up hugging my legs close to my chest. I felt the mental embrace Jetfire held me in tighten a bit as he was doing his best to comfort me since he wasn't physically with me. My throat tightened as more tears formed and fell from my eyes. I wanted him to actually be here with me, which only served to reinforce how much I depended on him.

_**{Shh… It's okay, Valerie. You're not weak or useless at all. I'm aware that you've become dependent on me and I haven't forgotten how scared and alone you felt when you were on that planet with Hot Shot and Red Alert, which is why I've been telling you to be strong. There might be times when I won't be around to protect you, but that doesn't mean I won't come to save you. So until that happens you gotta stay strong long enough for me to arrive and save you.}**_

I was able to calm down as my mind registered Jetfire's words. A few stray tears fell from my eyes and I brought my hand up to rub them away.

'_I'm such a damsel in distress._'

I heard Jetfire chuckle quietly.

_**{If you're the damsel in distress does that mean I get to be your knight in shining armor?} **_Jetfire asked, sounding amused.

I felt my face heat up slightly, but I ended up smiling a small smile.

'_It hasn't even been that long and already I miss you, Jetfire._'

_**{I know. I wish I could physically be there with you right now.}**_

My face got even warmer than it already was from what Jetfire said, realizing what he was saying.

'_No you don't!_' I told him, my face getting warmer as the seconds went by.

**_{Wha? But I thought you _wanted _me to be there with you.}_**

'_I do. It's just that right now wouldn't exactly be the best time to be with me physically._'

_**{Why?}**_

By now my face must've been as red as a tomato.

'_Because I'm in the shower…_'

A few seconds after I said that I suddenly felt Jetfire become very interested and I had the feeling that if I could see his holoform's face he'd probably be smirking.

_**{Oh, now I'm starting to wish I was actually there now!}**_

'_Jetfire…_'

_**{I know, I know!}**_ Jetfire laughed. _**{But in all seriousness, can I be your knight in shining armor?}**_

I felt my heart beat a little faster as my stomach did multiple flips and my face was already warmer than it already was. He really wanted to be my knight in shining armor?

'_Well, you got the shining armor part down, so I guess you can be my knight in shining armor._' I answered.

_**{Good. Now I'll have even more reason to keep you safe or come to your rescue.}**_

I smiled.

'_I love you, Jetfire. I really do._'

_**{I love you too, Skydancer. But why are you saying it like that?}**_

I thought about it for a bit, but I couldn't think of why I said it the way I did.

'_I just felt like I needed to let you know how much you really mean to me. I love you that much._'

Jetfire gave me one last mental hug before I felt his presence leave my mind. I decided that I've been in the shower long enough and turned off the water before drying off and getting dressed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_(Later…)_

I was with Alexis, Billy, Fred, Sureshock, and High Wire on the bridge as Optimus and Red Alert were talking with Hot Shot and a Decepticon (who was formerly an Autobot) named Wheeljack about what happened when he went to confront Galvatron. Alexis had given me a quick explanation on Wheeljack and how they used to be friends and all so I wasn't confused.

**"That's right!"** Hot Shot said to Optimus. **"Thrust was double-crossing Galvatron and his 'bots right from day **_**one**_**."**

"And when they found out, he escaped with the Requiem Blaster _and _the Skyboom Shield as well." Red Alert concluded, standing next to Optimus on his left.

"**After that, Thrust went underground. We're still trying to track him down." **Wheeljack said just as Rad and Carlos ran over to where we were. **"He's hardly your run-of-the-mill traitor. And I'm fairly certain he's out there working with both Sideways and Unicron."**

"Hey! That's _Wheeljack_!" Carlos exclaimed in surprise.

"Don't _worry_. He's been on our side for a while now." Alexis told him, looking over her shoulder at him and giving him a reassuring smile.

"I hope you're right!"

**"We think these underground passage ways are clues to the whereabouts of Unicron and Thrust." **Hot Shot said before we saw images of the tunnels he was talking about on the monitor.

"I recognize that location!" High Wire suddenly said, causing us to turn to him.

"What?" Rad asked.

"Hmm... It might be some kind of trap. Stay on your toes, boys." Optimus ordered.

**"You got it." **Hot Shot said as he saluted.

"High Wire, you said you recognized that place. Where is it?" Rad asked.

High Wire turned to face Rad.

"We were created at that location." High Wire told him.

"Huh?" This apparently confused Rad.

Some time after that Rad and managed to pull all of us (except for Billy and Fred) aside before explaining that he wanted to check out those tunnels we saw on the monitor. Carlos and Alexis agreed to go, but then I was somewhat reluctant before I ended up agreeing to come as well. We ended up sneaking out of the ship and after while we were forced to hide behind some rubble (or a lot of rubble seeing as it was large to us) because of two Decepticons that seemed to be looking for something. I started shaking slightly in fear, but then I realized that I had no reason to be scared right now.

"Hey, I don't think we're ever gonna locate Thrust out here." One of the Decepticons said. "Let's just kill some time, then head back."

We heard a pair of large footsteps walking away.

"I think they're gone." Rad said after awhile.

Alexis turned to Rad.

"I'm worried." She said, causing Rad to turn to her. "Maybe we should have said something to Optimus and the others before we left."

"I don't know." Carlos said and we turned to him. "This place is still full of Decepticons. Optimus would _peak_ if he knew we were out here!"

"He's right." I agreed, feeling somewhat uneasy.

Rad then turned to Alexis.

"Hey, Alexis. I know it's dangerous, but I've _really _gotta check out those tunnels." Rad explained. "There's something down there, underground. And I gotta feeling if we find out, we'll discover the real reason why we all came here to Cybertron."

"Okay, Rad." Alexis agreed after awhile.

As I continued following the others I realized that not only were the Autobots not aware that we snuck out, but Jetfire didn't know that I left. Maybe I should've stayed on the Axalon instead of agreeing to come with Alexis, Rad, and Carlos. Jetfire went through the trouble of sneaking me back on the ship just so I could remain safe (and so we both wouldn't get in trouble). Should I tell him that I left?

'_No._' I thought, remembering the discussion I had with Jetfire while I was in the shower. '_He already has enough to worry about. And I can't always depend on him like some helpless newborn baby._'

"This is _it_!" Rad said, causing me to realize that we were before a very large hole.

"Check out the size of that _hole_!" Carlos exclaimed.

"It's so dark! I can't see inside." Alexis said.

"Hey, High Wire? Is this the place you said you were created?" Rad asked.

Suddenly High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock started acting up and in my surprise I tightened my hold on Alexis before the Mini-Cons started driving off at full speed towards the hole.

"High Wire! Do you know where you're going?" Rad yelled.

"It seems like they're headed in the same direction in a trance!" Alexis noted.

"Hey, why don't you try getting through to Hot Shot, Rad?" Carlos suggested.

"Yeah, good thinking, Carlos!" Rad said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out Laserbeak.

I watched as the tiny robot flew ahead of us and it was by the time we entered the whole that we found ourselves inside what appeared to be a tunnel. The tunnel itself was somewhat dark, but not enough to affect our visibility; it was mainly a matter of our eyes needing to get used to the lighting, that's all. But as we went deeper through the tunnels my ears started to pick up a faint sound.

"Do any of you hear something?" I asked.

"Hear what?" Carlos asked. "I don't hear anything."

"I do. But it's very faint so you have to listen carefully." Alexis told him.

We were all quite and as we went further the sound we were hears started to get louder and louder until we realized that it was someone's voice before they sounded like they were quietly chuckling.

"...If you work under us, who knows, you might become the greatest Decepticon ever! Or would you rather fight and die in _vain_?"

"Save your breath, you mindless machine." A second voice said, and I was surprised when I realized that it sounded like Starscream. "I'd rather fight and _die_ than follow the likes of you and Unicron."

Sure enough we found Thrust pointing the Requiem Blaster at Starscream.

"Heheheheh... I'm _so _disappointed. Well, have it your way."

"Starscream!" Alexis cried out, alerting the two transformers to our presence.

"Huh?" Starscream appeared to be surprised when he saw us, but I knew that he was even more surprised of the fact that Alexis was here as well. "Alexis!"

Alexis gasped quietly and that was when Thrust turned to us.

"_What_ have we _here_?" Thrust asked.

"Aw, it's Thrust!" Carlos said.

"Don't back down." Rad told us.

"You've come _all_ the way here. How noble of you little children." Thrust said in a mocking tone. "Let me show you my appreciation." My eyes widened when he aimed the Requiem Blaster at us. "I hope you _enjoy _it, kids!"

"Don't do it!" Starscream yelled and looked as if he was going to rush at Thrust.

"Get back!" Thrust ordered as he suddenly turned to aim the Requiem Blaster at Starscream.

It all happened so fast, yet at the same time it seemed to be in slow motion. I heard Alexis gasp in surprise as we watched the white blast from the Requiem Blaster hit Starscream.

"_STARSCREAM_!_!_!" Alexis yelled.

Starscream let out a pained shout as he was send flying down the tunnel. What was sad was that I could understand exactly what Alexis was feeling because of that one nightmare I had of Sideways killing Jetfire. But suddenly a white light appeared and got so bright that it blinded us. I started seeing images flashing before my eyes that were going backwards in fast motion. I was confused at first but then I realized that what I was seeing were my memories, or more specifically the day I found the Mini-Con panel which led to me becoming involved with the transformers and their war.

I suddenly found myself waking up, but instead of being in that tunnel I was staring up at the leafy branches of a tree I must've been lying under. I sat up and my eyes widened when I saw my house not too far away from where I was, but then I realized that things seemed to be a slightly bigger than I remembered.

"There you are, Valerie. I was wondering where you were."

I turned to where the voice came from and I was surprised to see Mom, except she looked younger.

"What do you mean?" I asked, but then I was surprised at how much younger my voice sounded. I looked at my hands and found that they were smaller, looking more childish than I remember.

'_What the…?_' I thought.

"You must still be half asleep, but I'm not surprised you were asleep out here, seeing as it's such a nice day out." Mom smiled at me. "I wanted to let you know that Alexis will be here in a bit."

"Um…okay."

Mom headed back inside the house but I stayed outside. I walked out of the shade of the tree before looking up at the sky, seeing that it was clear and blue. After having been in space for so long the sky seemed to be more beautiful than I remembered it.

"…_dancer… My beautiful Skydancer…"_

I suddenly saw a familiar face staring back at me with gold optics shining with happiness and affection. Just as quick as the image appeared it soon disappeared and my eyes widened as I recognized the face.

"Jetfire…" I whispered.

_"Wake up, Valerie."_

Huh? Whose voice was that? It sounded familiar, yet I couldn't put my finger on it. Before I could figure it out my eyes shot open and I sat up to find that me and my friends were in some weird tunnel that looked like it was a cross between organic and mechanical. A chill went down my spine when I noticed what sounded like a faint heartbeat. Rad was the first to wake up, followed by Carlos and Alexis.

"Where _are_ we?" Rad asked.

"Hot Shot?" Carlos said. "_Hot Shot_!"

Carlos suddenly got up and started running off.

"Carlos, no!"

Rad was about to run after Carlos, but gasped in shock when he noticed something. My eyes were wide as well when I saw Hot Shot resting on top of something weird. Something I noticed was that his once vibrant yellow and red colors (as well as his whole body's coloration) were dull, almost gray, while these weird tendrils were attached to his body. He looked...like he was dead and it scared me.

"Hot Shot, are you all right?" Carlos asked when we stopped beside the Autobot. "Hot Shot, what happened_?_!"

I jumped when Hot Shot's head suddenly turned to face us. Even his bright blue optics were now dull and almost lifeless.

"Who's there_?_!" Hot Shot asked, sounding somewhat cautious. "Is it a Mini-Con?"

"Huh?" Rad said, sounding confused.

"What do you _mean_? It's _me_, Carlos! Snap out of it!" Carlos yelled.

Hot Shot turned his head away to look up at the ceiling.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"You met us on Earth! You gotta _remember_ us, Hot Shot!" Alexis said.

He looked at us again and I knew that he was curious.

"What is Earth?"

"Planet Earth - far, far away from the planet Cybertron." Rad explained. "You came there with your Commander, Optimus Prime and the Autobots!"

"Well, _that's_ crazy." Hot Shot said after turning to gaze at the ceiling. "I've never been off Cybertron before! I've always been _here_ on this planet since the day I was created. It was all just a trap, that's all. I was deceived by them!" What was Hot Shot talking about? What did he mean by a 'trap'? Did it have anything to do with this almost lifeless state he was currently in? "Who would've thought that the Mini-Cons were created by Unicron's cells?"

My eyes widened in shock when I heard Unicron's name. What was going on?

"You're not making any sense!" Carlos exclaimed.

"I thought the Mini-Cons were supposed to be peaceful." I said.

"I don't know what you're going on about…but you'd better get outta here while you still can, or you'll get trapped here along with me." Hot Shot warned.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Take a look around you."

Feeling confused, I looked around with my friends, only for us to gasp in shock. Before us, all around us, were the transformers, Autobots and Decepticons alike in a lifeless stated. They all appeared to be in the same state as Hot Shot, except worse since their bodies seemed to be merged with the walls of the weird tunnel itself

"Optimus!" Rad exclaimed.

"Red Alert!" Carlos added.

"Cyclonus!" Alexis said.

"Whoa, no way!" Rad said.

"Whoa, man, this is too much!" Carlos said.

"Too weird." Alexis said.

"Look at that. Even Galvatron's here."

"And his Decepticon army is trapped here too."

Seeing all the transformers in this state, but nothing prepared me to see Jetfire among them as well. My eyes started to water with unshed tears and I felt as if I was watching that nightmare of a vision that had Jetfire being killed by Sideways. But here he was actually dead and it was very much real.

'_Jetfire…_' I thought mournfully, trying to hold back my tears.

"So much for evolution." Hot Shot suddenly said, causing us to turn back to him. "At one time we were told we could _use_ them. But instead, we were the ones who were being used."

Hot Shot then grunted quietly, seeming to be in some pain.

"Who's using _who_? We don't know what you're talking about!" Carlos said.

"Somehow, we've gone back into the past, millions of years ago before we met High Wire and any of the transformers." Rad said.

"Noooo!" Alexis cried, shaking her head in denial.

Suddenly Hot Shot's optics dimmed completely and his body changed to a color resembling the tunnel while those tendril-like veins appeared on him.

"Look out, Hot Shot!" Carlos shouted before trying to run towards him.

"Don't do it, Carlos!" Rad yelled, grabbing a hold of Carlos to stop him.

There was nothing we could do as Hot Shot ended up being in the same state after the other transformers. I was forced to cover my eyes when a bright light appeared. When the light faded away I suddenly found myself standing in a room that was crowded with a bunch of transformers, but upon observing closely I realized that they were all Autobots.

Many of the Autobots in the room were either sitting or standing as they drank energon cubes and talked to one another, making the room loud from the sounds of their voices combined. I suddenly noticed that I was the same size as all the Autobots in the room (or they seemed to be normal human size to me) and that instead of wearing my spacesuit I was wearing the blue outfit I always wore whenever I was practicing my ballet.

'_What's going on?_' I thought, feeling confused.

My eyes widened when I realized that an Autobot was heading my way and they didn't seem to noticed that I was here; I was about to move out of the way, but then they suddenly passed right through me. Didn't they see me? Or was it that I wasn't really here? I continued to look around from where I stood, only to notice a familiar form sitting at a table way in the back of the room where it was somewhat shaded (or in the shadows) due to its location.

"Jetfire…" I said quietly, aware that no one would hear me.

Indeed it was Jetfire, but he looked slightly different than how I was used to seeing him. The armor he wore didn't look like it would be that of a space shuttle if he were to transform into his vehicle mode (and he looked less bulky than what I remembered), but it was still unmistakably him. As I walked over to where he was I noticed that he started to drink an energon cube (but the color of the energon itself was neon purple instead of the neon pink I had seen before) and I took a seat next to his right in the booth he was sitting in, noticing that he wasn't wearing his face mask, but I still couldn't make out what his real face looked like. It was like no matter what angle I tried to look it would still be obscured to me. Look down at the table I saw that Jetfire placed the cube he just finished next to four other empty energon cubes that he must've been drinking from earlier before he started reaching for another cube of that neon purple energon.

_**I went through something similar 70,000 years ago after my mother was offlined. I had been so angry that I had actually wanted revenge against the Decepticons and I used that anger in all my other encounters with them during those years of fighting. Her funeral was held the day after she was offlined and I ended up going through depression. I knew there were friends around me that were willing to help, but instead of running I tried to drink my problems away with high grade energon, which is similar to what you humans call alcohol.**_

My eyes widened as I realized what that neon purple energon was! It was high grade energon! Then that meant that I was somehow 70,000 years in the past after Astera's funeral; that also meant that Jetfire was currently drunk. I couldn't stop the aching I felt in my heart as I watched him start to bring the cube of high grade energon to where his mouth was.

"Don't…" I said quietly as I watched.

Jetfire suddenly froze and started glancing around the room (I still wasn't able to see his face!) as if looking for something and then shrugged before he brought the cube back up to drink. Why was he doing this to himself?

"No, Jetfire."

He stopped again and I felt confused as I saw him looking around again. What was he looking for?

"Who said that?" Jetfire suddenly asked, his voice quiet and slurred from being drunk.

This took me by surprise. Jetfire heard me talking? Was that why he was looking around when I spoke. Testing out my theory I opened my mouth to speak.

"I did." I replied, unsure if he'd hear me or not.

And to my surprise Jetfire turned to face me and I saw his gold optics widen in surprise when he saw me.

"Mom…?"

At this I shook my head. Apparently Jetfire thought of was Astera, but then he seemed to realize that I wasn't his mother at all, his optics seeming to look me over as he took in my appearance. If I was right, then this was the first time he had seen a human being. Seeing him in this state made me feel sad and despite the fact that I knew he eventually stopped drinking it still worried me. He just lost his mother, which was the reason why he was drinking in the first place. Looking at his optics again I noticed an expression of slight recognition, but it was also mixed with confusion as his gaze returned to my face.

"Who are you?" He asked quietly.

"It doesn't matter who I am." I told him, knowing that I couldn't tell him my name. If I told him my name, then something in history could change. If that happened, I'd probably end up having a different name or something.

'_But someday you'll know what my name is, Jetfire._' I thought.

I think Jetfire must've realized I was sitting close to him (I just noticed that as well), and despite the fact that he was the same size his holoform would've been if I had been standing next to him, he still easily towered over me.

"Okay. Listen, I don't know _who _you are or _why_ you're sitting beside me, but I don't mind having some company while I'm here. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just continue drinking my high grade energon."

Jetfire started bringing the energon cube up to his mouth again and when I saw him doing this I knew I had to stop him for continuing so I grabbed onto his arm to prevent him from drinking anymore high grade energon. I wasn't sure if I was imagining it or not, but I could've sworn I felt him shiver slightly as soon as I touched him. He then turned his gold gaze to look down at me and I didn't even need to read his mind to know what he was silently asking.

"I'm human." I answered.

He was quiet as he continued to stare at me and I could tell that he was thinking about what I just said.

"What are you doing?" He seemed to remember that I was still holding onto his arm.

"Don't do this to yourself, Jetfire." I couldn't hide the sadness that was in my voice as I spoke. "Don't drink anymore of that stuff."

"And why not?" He growled quietly before bringing his face closer to mine with his gold optics narrowed. Even though his face was close to mine I still couldn't see it, barely even an outline of it.

I knew he was trying to intimidate me, but I knew better than to fall for it and stood my ground. Jetfire narrowed his optics further into a piercing glare and I had a feeling that he was starting to get a bit annoyed.

"Drinking isn't going to make the memories of your mother's death or the pain go away. It'll only make it worse if you continue. She wouldn't want you to do this to yourself."

Jetfire suddenly froze at this as his optics went wide when I mentioned Astera. His optics then softened as tears started to form in them, but even now he was holding them back. Just seeing him like this made me sad as I remembered that this was the Jetfire from 70,000 years ago, and I probably made him feel guilty for drinking.

'_This is for your own good, Jetfire._' I suddenly felt surprised as I realized what I thought, and it was then I remembered that the Jetfire I knew had told me that I had stopped him from drinking when he was depressed. Then that meant… '_He actually met me, or the me from the future. He's actually meeting me now! I…traveled back in time!_'

Pushing that thought aside I pulled one of my hands away from his arm before placing it on the side of his face, and I was surprised at the warmth I felt from touching the smooth surface of his metallic face. Whether he was aware of it or not Jetfire ended up leaning into my touch like he had done so many times when I was around him. Thinking about the events that transpired when the Jetfire from the present had taken me to his old home (and seeing him being tormented by the horrible memories of his mother's death) I knew that what I was about to tell him next would really matter to him once I've said them. He had to know that he needed to be strong for the future.

"Jetfire. You need to be strong so you can deal with the hardships that are to come. I know you'll make it through this. It may hurt now, but you will be able to overcome the pain." I hoped that my words would mean something to him, even if he was drunk.

"Who _are _you?" He asked again as he placed the cube he was holding on the table.

I couldn't help but smile at him, not at all surprised that he still wanted to know who I was.

'_Oh, Jetfire. Even if this is your past self, you're still the same Jetfire that I love._' I thought.

"Someone you'll meet someday." Was all I told him, pulling my hand away from his cheek.

"Jetfire, sir? Who are you talking to?"

Jetfire suddenly pulled his gaze away from me and looked at the soldier that stood in front of him after he straightened his posture.

"Uh…no one." Jetfire replied.

The soldier looked confused, but ended up walking away. Jetfire turned back to face me, but he looked confused and started looking around with his optics. I tried to place my hand on his cheek, but it went right through him. So he couldn't see me. I felt sad that he could no longer see me, but I leaned up to his face before placing a kiss on his 'lips'. Even though I couldn't feel them and he couldn't feel me, the intention was still there. After seeing him like this I still loved him. And someday, this Jetfire would get to meet me 70,000 years in the future.

Suddenly another flash of light appeared and images were flying past my eyes. But what surprised me was that it was actually time that seemed to be rewinding itself since I saw the events of Starscream's death (at the hands of Thrust) going in reverse. When time resumed normally I saw that Thrust had the Requiem Blaster aimed and me and my friends.

"_This_ is _goodbye_!" He said menacingly. I was surprised by what happened next. High Wire started bleeping before he, Sureshock, and Grindor combined into Perceptor. Apparently I wasn't the only one surprised by this. "Huh_?_!"

Perceptor tried to get at Thrust, but the Decepticon swatted him away with the Requiem Blaster. This distraction gave Starscream enough time to charge at Thrust and grab onto the Requiem Blaster.

"Let _go_!" Thrust demanded.

During the struggle the Requiem Blaster had been pointing up at the ceiling and Thrust must've pressed the trigger since the Blaster suddenly shot at it. Because of the blast parts of the ceiling were starting to fall and Starscream quickly used his body as a shield to cover us so that we wouldn't get hurt from the falling rubble. However, Thrust used this opportunity to get away with the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom Shield. By the time the rubble stopped falling we seemed to be buried beneath the rubble, but since Starscream had been covering us we were safe. He managed to get himself out of the rubble.

"Thanks, Starscream!" Alexis said, looking up at him. Starscream merely gave her a small smile, but then he ran off in the same direction Thrust had gone. "Wait, Starscream!"

We stared in the direction Starscream had gone, but the sound of bleeps brought our attention back to Perceptor who separated into High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor.

"Wha - High Wire_?_!" Rad asked.

"Yes, Rad." High Wire said. "We met each other a long time ago."

"Ha, ha! It wasn't a dream after all!" Carlos said, clearly happy.

"Thank you for - your kindness, Rad."

Despite being confused about what was going on I still smiled, feeling happy for my friends. We laughed happily together.

"_Yo_!" We stopped laughing and turned to where the familiar voice came from. We were all surprised to see Hot Shot and Wheeljack running over to us. "Is everyone okay?"

"Hey! It's Hot Shot! Haha!" Carlos said excitedly before running up to Hot Shot and hugging his leg. "You're all right! Aww, man, I was so worried about you!"

"Cut it out!" Hot Shot said, looking down at Carlos in confusion before turning to Wheeljack. "Hey, what's gotten into _him_?"

"Who knows?" Wheeljack replied.

I laughed with Rad and Alexis. After seeing what happened to Hot Shot and the rest of the transformers in that alternate timeline I was really happy to see him. Rad explained what happened to us, about how the Mini-Cons were created by Unicron's cells.

"Are you telling us the Mini-Cons are Unicron's _cells?_!" Hot Shot asked, clearly shocked by what he was told.

"No! Impossible!" Wheeljack said in disbelief.

None of us wanted to believe it, but there was no denying. Seeing what we saw wasn't something we were going to forget.

* * *

ATE: That's it for now. I know owe you another chapter for July so I'll be working hard on chapter 24. Please remember to review!


	24. Portent

ATE: Yes! I finally managed to finish this chapter after slaving over if for three days straight! Yes, you read right! THREE DAYS STRAIGHT! And I managed to get it done before I have to go back to college for my fall semester on the 20th. Okay, I gotta thank **Crystalmaiden62**,** Sailor Shinzo**, **Screamer's Prime**, **Bee4ever**, **storygirl99210**, **Autobot NightFury**, **Autobot-Bre**, and **lilbit **for their review for the previous chapter and anyone else that's still reading TDATS or has gotten this far. Like the chapter title says, this one's covers the events of Episode 47 (Portent) from Armada. I'll even admit that this chapter is kinda dark compared to previous chapters of TDATS, so expect that much when you read this. I hope you like it.

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, or any else that might be referenced in this chapter. I do own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

* * *

Chapter 24 - Portent

"Tell me again, Rad. Why did you guys come to Cybertron?" Hot Shot asked, gazing down at us.

"We came to rescue the Mini-Cons." Rad answered. "I figured you guys could use all the help you could get. And we weren't much good just hanging around on the Autobots' ship."

"Man, it was totally boring out there." Carlos said.

"Yeah, we're just so lucky. Starscream found us and brought us down to the planet." Alexis added.

"Starscream found _you_?" Hot Shot asked.

"Yeah, that's right. And he's a really good friend of ours."

"I dunno if I'd call him a friend yet." Carlos said, looking at Alexis.

'_Oh no._' I thought when Alexis turned to Carlos after hearing his comment.

"What do you mean by _that_, Carlos?" Alexis asked, glaring at him.

"He _saved_ us. That's _all_." Carlos looked uneasy.

"Because he's our _friend_?" Alexis turned away from Carlos and crossed her arms. "What does he have to do for you guys to trust him, anyway?"

"Needs to surrender." Hot Shot deadpanned.

"Is Starscream still chasing after Thrust?" Wheeljack asked.

"You betcha." Carlos replied. "So let's go after him!"

"No way. Because it's far too dangerous for all of you." Hot Shot said.

"Aw, Hot Shot! We came to help out and all we've done so far is stand here and _talk_. We're wasting _time_!"

"He's got a point." Alexis added. "If we don't get moving, Thrust will give the Skyboom Shield _and _the Requiem Blaster to Unicron!"

"Yeah, but –"

"We've got High Wire and the other Mini-Cons with us, so we'll be able to look after ourselves." Rad said.

Both Alexis and Carlos nodded while humming in agreement.

"You know, these kids could be useful." Wheeljack said, causing Hot Shot to look at him. "Whatever happens, we can't let Thrust hand over those weapons to Unicron."

"Yeah, okay." Hot Shot sighed in defeat before looking down at us. "But ya gotta stay close to all of us."

"It's a deal!" Carlos exclaimed before turning to Grindor. "C'mon, Grindor, let's go!" The Mini-Con bleeped before transforming into a skateboard, allowing Carlos to jump on. "Woohoo! Yay, c'mon!" Carlos started riding off, but before he could get far Hot Shot merely picked him up between his thumb and forefinger while Grindor kept going. "Whoa! Hey, come on, let me down!"

"_Cool it_." Hot Shot said dully as he held Carlos with both hands.

"What?_!_"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Optimus! The kids are down on the planet!" Red Alert exclaimed when he entered the room.

"Huh?" Optimus said, turning to the monitor to see the image of Hot Shot holding Carlos with both hands.

"Stand by. We have an incoming transmission, sir."

The screen switched to show Rad, Alexis, and Valerie. Optimus was surprised by the fact that she was with them as well, especially knowing how protective Jetfire was when it came to her.

**"Optimus, I'm sorry, but I know the Mini-Cons need our help down here." **Rad told them.

"Some friends they are." Billy scoffed as he and Fred walked into the room. "They better not have left us behind and headed back to Earth."

"Yeah, you said it." Fred agreed, and that was when he noticed what was on the monitor. "What the?_!_"

"Huh?_!_" Both Billy and Fred exclaimed in surprise.

**"Please, try to understand." **Alexis said.** "We're willing to do whatever it takes to save the Mini-Cons."  
**

The screen then switched back to Hot Shot and Carlos.

**"We've got work to do. C'mon, let us go, Optimus!" **Carlos added.

**"So do they have your permission, Optimus-sir?" **Hot Shot asked.

"Uhhh..." Optimus thought for a moment before answering. "Very well. You're good to go. But I _don't _want you to do anything too risky, understand?"

The screen switched to Rad, Alexis, and Valerie.

**"That's **_**awesome**_**!" **Alexis said excitedly.**  
**  
**"Hey, thanks a lot, Optimus!" **Rad said.

"Take care of them, Hot Shot." Optimus ordered.

The screen switched back to Hot Shot and Carlos again.

**"Hey, they're in good hands! Don't worry." **Hot Shot said reassuringly before the transmission ended.

Billy and Fred started protesting as then ran over to stand in front of the monitor.

"Not fair! We don't ever get to do any _good _stuff." Fred complained.

"Aw, man. This is such a rip-off." Billy added.

"I think we should send someone along to back them up, sir." Red Alert suggested after turning to face Optimus.

"Good idea." Optimus replied, nodding in agreement. "Contact Jetfire at once."

'_Knowing Jetfire he's not going to be happy to find out that Valerie left._' He thought. '_But then again, letting him know about this could encourage him to get the job done quick._'

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jetfire never felt so alive as he flew through the Cybertronian skies over the battlefield down below. The fact that explosions were going off everywhere due to the conflict did little to take away from his exhilarated mood. After having stayed on Earth while fighting the Decepticons for as long as he had made him realize that those battle had been nothing more than child's play compared to the one he was now in. The battles on Cybertron – those were _real_ battles! And to him they described his definition of battles to a T. But unlike the battles they fought back on Earth Jetfire didn't have to worry about fighting the enemy in secluded locations away from the curious eyes of humans and risk being discovered. On Cybertron he was in his natural environment where he could fly through the skies freely and unhindered. And it was the excitement he got from the battles on Cybertron that got the energon in his system pumping.

"Aaallll_right_!" Jetfire cheered enthusiastically as he flew over the battlefield. "Well, that was some fireworks display, fellas, but who said you could start the party without _me_?_!_"

The Decepticon soldiers on the ground became aware of Jetfire's presence and started firing at him, but the shuttle mech merely smirked behind his face mask before shooting at them with his blaster. That didn't stop the enemy from firing at him. having Jetfire knew that he still had to deliver Optimus' orders to the Autobot soldiers that were still fighting.

'_But that doesn't mean I _can't_ have a little fun._' He thought mischievously. And when he spotted a certain giant Decepticon on the battlefield Jetfire grinned. '_And I think I just found my target!_'

"Show-off." He heard Tidal Wave say before Jetfire flew right past him. And the results were priceless when the Decepticons accidentally unleashed some 'friendly fire' on their large ally.

"Ha, ha, hahaha!" Jetfire laughed gleefully, making a U-turn and flying past all the Autobot soldiers that were still on the battlefield. "Listen up, _Autobots_! Head office says we're pulling out and moving on _right now_!"

Jetfire didn't really pay attention to what the various Autobot soldiers were saying and as he flew away he spotted Blurr on the ground, gazing up at him as if he'd been waiting for him for some time. He made his way over to him.

"What's up, Blurr?" Jetfire asked, landing in front of him.

"Jetfire, Optimus has an important mission for you." The blue Autobot told him.

"An important mission, eh? Just how important are we talking here?"

"Important enough to convince you to take this mission a little more seriously than you usually do."

"And what does this mission entail?"

"Provide backup and possibly retrieval."

Jetfire merely chuckled at this.

"_Really_? Optimus is sending me on a backup mission and calling it important? It can't be _that _bad!"

"It's not just Hot Shot and Wheeljack you have to worry about, Jetfire." Blurr stated, crossing his arms "The kids are with them as well."

This caught his attention.

"Wait, the _kids_ are with them? As in Rad, Carlos, and Alexis?" Jetfire asked.

"It's not just those three and their Mini-Cons. Valerie happens to be with them."

Jetfire's optics widened in shock at this and it seemed like his vocal processor decided it didn't want to work. Blurr seemed to observe the shuttle mech's reaction before deciding that he had better things to do.

"However you decide to approach this mission, you better do so quickly." Blurr told him. "Last I heard they were located in the underground passageways. Knowing you, I doubt you'd have any trouble finding the entrance."

With that Blurr walked off, leaving Jetfire by himself to register what he was just told. Optimus knew that telling him about Valerie would've given him enough reason to undertake this mission, and even he had to admit that it was quite clever of his leader to do so. Without thinking twice Jetfire flew off to where the entrance of the underground passageway was.

'_Just what were you thinking, Valerie?_' Jetfire thought. '_Why did you decide to leave the Axalon when you know full well that Sideways will…_'

Jetfire's thought trailed off as he remembered his last conversation with Valerie when she was still in the shower (something he still wished he'd been around for).

_**I love you, Jetfire. I really do. **_

_**I love you too, Skydancer. But why are you saying it like that?**_

He remembered feeling that she was a little confused through their connection as she tried to figure out why she said what she said.

_**I just felt like I needed to let you know how much you really mean to me. I love you that much.**_

Jetfire's optics widened as he began to realize the hidden meaning behind Valerie's words that even she didn't seem to be aware of! If what he realized was true, then she could very well be walking into a trap! He quietly growled in anger. As much as he hated to admit it, Sideways had played his cards well so far. He somehow managed to play with not just Valerie's mind and emotions at times, but his as well, even going as far as to give them a false sense of security and allow them to think that they were safe. Jetfire and Valerie had unknowingly played into his servos and it made the shuttle mech angry that so far they had possibly done what he wanted so far.

As much as he wished he were wrong, Jetfire knew there was no time to waste. He wouldn't allow Sideways to continue manipulating them. He was going to save Valerie one way or another and that virus wasn't going to stop him. He refused to lose his sparkmate like he did his own mother. And if it ever came down to it, he'd die trying. Failure was _not _an option. Because Jetfire knew that if he failed, then all his efforts to keep his sparkmate safe would've all been in vain.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Galvatron stood alone as he gazed out at the battlefield. He didn't know why, but for some reason he couldn't stop thinking about the incident that took place before Thrust stole the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom Shield from him.

'_What a shame that the young Autobot is under Optimus Prime's control._' Galvatron thought, recalling how Hot Shot begged him to listen to him. '_If what he said is the truth, then the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons has all been for _nothing_. Nevertheless, most of my goals have been achieved. Despite a few _minor_ setbacks, I control Cybertron and I have brought the Autobots to their knees. Hh. What was I thinking? The Autobots and the Decepticons will never be allies. Not as long as I'm still in charge_.'

"Galvatron." Galvatron turned around to find Demolishor standing behind him. "The Autobots are all pulling out and moving to a new location on the other side of the planet, sir."

"All of the Autobot troops, you say?" Galvatron asked.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Starscream chased after Thrust through the tunnel they were currently in and every now and then the traitor would look over his shoulder to see how much distance was between them.

"Thrust! Get back here!" Starscream yelled.

But what happened next took him by surprise. Some kind of portal appeared out of nowhere in front of Thrust, who didn't hesitate to go through it as he laughed. Starscream came to a stop before the portal and examined it by using his wing sword and sticking it inside. The surface of the portal seemed to ripple a bit like water as soon as the sword made contact with it and he was glad that that his sword wasn't damaged in any way. But he was still wary of the portal itself. Thrust had gone, and knowing that coward he wouldn't have gone through if it hadn't been safe at all.

"There's no choice." He told himself. "Looks like I'm gonna have to go through there."

With that Starscream walked through the portal, not sure what exactly he was getting himself into.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"You do know you're still being _followed_, Thrust." Sideways stated after Thrust returned with the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster.

"Whoo, it's that pest _Starscream_!" Thrust complained. "I _tried_, but I couldn't _shake_ him!"

In his anger Sideways knocked down a large rock that was in the way of the passageway he had been working on, the loud booming sound of it impacting the ground causing Thrust to jump in surprise. On the bright side at least he finished making it.

"Spare me your _excuses_!" Sideways yelled, his pink optics narrowed as he stepped out of the hole. "If our plan is going to succeed, _we_ can't afford to make any more mistakes. Do you _understand_?_!_"

"Ah, y-yes. I'm sorry!"

"Now, to take care of Starscream."

"Here he comes!"

Just after Thrust said that the portal appeared behind him, along with Starscream coming out of it. He landed on the ground, all the while looking around cautiously.

"What is this place?" Starscream asked.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

After wandering through the tunnels we eventually came across some sort of portal. Wheeljack hummed quietly as his stuck his hand inside it.

"You think Thrust escaped through _there_?" Carlos asked. "What a ride!"

"Well, if that's true, then we'll have to go in after him." Rad said.

"There's no need to be scared, Carlos." Alexis said.

"Hey, I'm not _scared_!" Carlos said defensively, looking at Alexis. "I'm ready! Let's do this thing! Huh? What are you _doing_, Alexis?"

I turned to look at Alexis and it was then that I noticed her pulling out a pendent that had a huge, yet pretty, green stone on it. I don't know why, but for some reason something about that green stone looked familiar. Where have I seen it?

"What is _that_?"

"Oh, it's just a good luck charm!" Alexis replied, giggling quietly after she fastened the pendant around her neck.

"A good luck charm? Looks to me like _you're _the one scared around here!"

"Okay, guys!" Hot Shot said, causing Rad and Carlos to look up at him. "Everybody onboard. We're going in."

Hot Shot picked Alexis, Rad, Carlos, and I up while Wheeljack had High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor. I glanced over at Alexis and the pendant she wore, only to smile as I soon realized why the green stone looked so familiar.

'_Oh, Alexis. You really have it bad, don't you?_' I thought.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Starscream continued forward with his sword in hand. He wasn't surprised when he found Sideways up ahead, as if he'd been waiting for him to come.

"Hello Sideways." Starscream greeted.

"Been a long time, Starscream." Sideways commented.

"So you're the mastermind behind all of _this_, huh?"

"I'm surprised you didn't figure it out _sooner_. Listen, I'm gonna make you an offer. Join our side now and be a part of Unicron's _glorious _plan."

Starscream turned around when he heard movement behind him, only to see Thrust wielding the Requiem Blaster.

"I'd _do_ it if _I_ were you." Thrust suggested.

'_Of course _you _would, you coward._' Starscream thought before turning back to Sideways, already knowing his answer.

"Thanks but no thanks." Starscream answered.

"_Really_?" Sideways asked. "But I thought you wanted to defeat _Galvatron_. Hasn't he humiliated you long enough? Together we can _finish _him!"

Starscream smirked, realizing what Sideways was trying to do.

"Maybe..." Starscream chuckled quietly. "But _you're_ the one I wanna finish _off_!"

Starscream bared his sword at Sideways, but he latter didn't seemed fazed.

"You really are _stubborn_, aren't you? I'm offering you a chance to stand alongside Unicron when he takes control of the universe and you _refuse_ because of your misguided loyalty to _Galvatron_?_!_ Very well. Have it your way."

Sideways raised his arm up, laughing as these strange creatures appeared, looking like a mixture between robotic and organic. Starscream's optics widened in surprise when he realized what they were: bot-spiders!

"You were wondering what kind of place this is. Well for you, it's a _graveyard_!" Suddenly Sideways swung his arm forward, sending the bot-spiders flying at Starscream. "Goodbye, Starscream!"

Sideways laughed as he watched Starscream's futile attempts to fend off the bot-spiders with his sword. Even hearing him screaming in pain when they latched onto the seeker was music to his audio receptors. It didn't matter to him if Starscream joined them or not, just watching him suffer the consequences for his decision was satisfying.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Words couldn't begin to describe how glad I was when we came out of that portal. Despite the fact that it was different than the warp gate the Autobots used back on Earth it still made me feel queasy. Hot Shot lowered Alexis, Rad, Carlos, and I to the ground, along with Wheeljack doing the same with the Mini-Cons. I don't know why, but something about this place scared me. Before I could ponder about this place Carlos suddenly screamed which caused us to look at him to see why he was freaking out.

"It's a transformer!" Carlos exclaimed.

And that was when we noticed the forms of dead transformers that were all partially buried in a cocoon of what seemed to be some kind of organic matter. I was suddenly reminded of when we saw Hot Shot and the others in the same state as well. We were all terrified of what we saw and no matter how hard I tried to block the sight by closing my eyes the image still wouldn't go away. In fact I couldn't stop myself from being reminded of when I saw Jetfire like that as well.

"Where are we?" Hot Shot asked, who seemed to be surprisingly calm.

My eyes widened in fear when I heard the familiar voice laughing in the direction ahead of us.

"That sounds like _Sideways_' laughter!" Hot Shot stood up.

And that's when we heard another familiar voice as well that sounded like they were in pain.

"Starscream's struggling with him. He needs our help!" Alexis said before running off.

"No! Wait, Alexis!" Ran yelled.

We were surprised when Sureshock went with her, transforming into a moped before Alexis jumped on.

"Move, Hot Shot!" Wheeljack said urgently as he started running after Alexis.

"I'm right behind ya!" Hot Shot said.

I was forced to hitch a ride with Rad on High Wire since I didn't want to ride with Carlos. I had nothing against Carlos or Grindor at all, but it was the fact that the Mini-Con transformed into a skateboard. I still remembered back when we were all little that he tried to teach me how to ride a skateboard (while Alexis and Rad tried to encourage me), but that lesson didn't end well for me. So it was safer for me to ride with Rad instead of Carlos.

All of a sudden everything around me was replaced with Lincoln, Nebraska. The others weren't anywhere to be seen, but the side of my face was still pressed against someone's back as I watched the buildings, vehicles, and people fly past my eyes, along with my arms wrapped around them. And I noticed that instead of the spacesuit I had been wearing I had on my usual outfit.

_**I'm going to need directions to where you want me to take you.**_

I gasped and my head jerked up, only for my eyes to widen in horror when I saw instead of Rad and High Wire I was sitting behind a familiar leather clad person while riding on Sideways while he was in his motorcycle form. I tried to pull my arms away from him, but fear filled me as I realized I couldn't move them at all! I tried to scream, but it seemed like my voice was caught in my throat.

_**Got it. By the way, I never did catch your name. **_Sideways continued talking as if he didn't notice anything wrong.

_**I'm…Valerie. What about you?**_

I was scared! My words just came out automatically and I had no control over what I said at all! What was going on? Why was I here? Why was I seeing and reliving this memory all over again?

_**My name is – Sideways.**_

"Valerie!"

Before I knew it I gasped and that was when I realized that I still sitting behind Rad who happened to be looking at me from over his shoulder as High Wire continued to follow the others.

"…What?" I asked, my voice slightly shaky from what happened.

"What happened to you?" Rad asked. "I kept calling you, but you wouldn't answer. And now you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I don't know." I honestly didn't know what was going on and I was scared.

I mustn't have been paying attention to what was going on since I was brought back to reality when I heard Alexis call out Starscream's name. Starscream turned around to face us as we came rushing into the area.

"Hang on! We're coming!" Hot Shot announced.

"No! Don't! Stay back!" Starscream yelled.

"What _are _those things?" Alexis asked when she came to a stop.

"You kids _stay _here." Hot Shot told us as he ran past up with Wheeljack.

"Bot-spiders!" Wheeljack exclaimed as he and Hot Shot came to a stop near Starscream.

"Forget about me! I can handle these things. Just get the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster." Starscream insisted.

"We can't leave him like that." Hot Shot said.

"No. Do as he says." Wheeljack told him.

"The bot parasites will make a _meal_ out of you." A familiar voice stated.

I gasped quietly and despite how hard I tried not to I ended up turning my head to see Sideways along with Thrust. I started hearing this quiet buzzing sound inside my head as my fear started to build up.

"Don't count on it, Sideways. We'll squash them just like we're gonna squash _you_." Hot Shot said.

"Oh, I _doubt _that."

"If you hand over the Skyboom Shield…"

Wheeljack's voice faded out as the buzzing sound got louder to the point that it drowned out every sound around me. My body felt like it was in pain yet I was unable to cry out or do anything to stop it. I suddenly felt lightheaded and my vision got blurry, but the one thing that wasn't blurry – the one thing that was crystal clear – was Sideways. I was unable to look away from him and it seemed that the longer I looked at him the stronger the fear I felt got. My mind was screaming at me to move, to get away, and yet I wasn't able to do so.

I became terrified when something suddenly grabbed my arm and I tried to fight it as it dragged me somewhere. It didn't help that my surroundings were so obscured at the moment, and it seemed like something else grabbed my other arm when it saw that I was fighting. What was going on? Where was I? I was scared! I wanted Jetfire! No, I _needed _him! I needed him to be here with me! My body was in so much pain that I just wanted to cry, but I was unable to do even that.

'_Jetfire, where are you? Why aren't you here when I really need you? Why can't I feel your presence?_' I thought pathetically. '_I thought you said you'd come to save me if I was ever in trouble!_'

"Valerie, snap out of it!"

Suddenly my vision was no longer blurry and I realized that Alexis, Rad, and Carlos were giving me concerned looks, and I noticed that I was almost in a sort of fetal position. The buzzing sound that had been loud was gone down to a quiet hum and my body was still in pain, but not to the extent that it had been before. Looking at my friends' concerned looks I knew what they wanted to ask me.

"I'm fine." I lied, hoping that they wouldn't ask me any questions if I told them that.

Alexis placed a hand on my back and that was when I realized that we were hiding behind some rubble as my friends watched what was going on with the others.

"Our only chance, guys, is if we can get the Mini-Cons in those weapons to wake up." Rad told us.

High Wire bleeped in agreement.

"Feh. You Autobots never learn." Sideways scoffed. "The Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster belong to Unicron now! _Get used to it_!"

"Mirage! Wake up!" Rad yelled.

"C'mon, Mirage! You just gotta wake up!" Alexis begged.

"Hey Dirt Boss! Downshift! Mir! I don't care who's first, just _wake _up!" Carlos yelled.

I could hear High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor bleep from where they were.

"Man, why aren't they waking up?" Rad asked.

The three Mini-Cons bleeped before they suddenly combined into Perceptor and letting out a high-pitched whistling noise. Before the whistling never bothered me, but for some reason it seemed to make the quiet buzzing sound in my head increase in volume along with the pain to spike up as well. I gritted my teeth to hold back a cry of pain as I watched the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster glow briefly before it disappeared, but the pain and buzzing sound went back to being quiet and dull again when the whistling stopped. However Thrust seemed to notice that that the two weapons had been glowing and turned in the direction we were in, which caused us to duck down in order to hide ourselves from him.

"Huh? Oh, it appears we have an _audience_." Thrust said before he addressed us. "You can stop _shouting_. It is impossible to wake up the Mini-Cons who make up these weapons when they're in this _form_."

"Impossible?" Alexis asked.

"Ah! No way! That _can't _be!" Carlos exclaimed as he stood up.

"C'mon! Get down, Carlos!" Rad hissed urgently, grabbing a hold of Carlos. "You wanna get _nailed_?_!_"

We cried out in shock when Thrust aimed the Requiem Blaster at us and on reflex we ducked down in an attempt to avoid the blast. I started shaking in fear as my eyes were shut tightly.

"Forget about them." Sideways suddenly said, causing me to open my eyes that widened in surprise. I risked a peek at what was going on to see that Thrust turned to him, probably feeling just as confused as I was. "No sense wasting ammo. Once these Autobots are out of the way, those humans will be lost without them. Let's go. Unicron is waiting."

So that was why he stopped Thrust. But then there was the fact that-!

I clutched at my head as the buzzing sound and pain increased again, but then it started to slowly fade away when I heard Carlos yelling that Sideways and Thrust were getting away. I felt someone grab my hand and I realized that Alexis was holding my hand as she pulled me along, following Rad and Carlos as they chased after the two transformers. I noticed that the farther away they got the quicker buzzing sound and pain dulled until it was nonexistent. As we approached the opening of the tunnel Sideways and Thrust went through a bunch of tentacles shot out at us. The tentacles suddenly got a hold of Carlos and tried to pull him in, but we managed to grab onto him as we tried to save him

"H-h-hey! Put me down!" Carlos yelled at the tentacles.

Out of nowhere a stray tentacle suddenly wrapped around my arm and tried to pull me through the tunnel, but luckily we were saved when Perceptor jumped in and cut the tentacles. We landed on the ground roughly as the combined Mini-Cons tried to protect us, but even then they were having trouble as well as the tentacles got a hold of Perceptor.

"Out of the way, Perceptor!" I heard Hot Shot's voice yell.

Perceptor managed to get away just in time as both Hot Shot and Wheeljack came in, the both of the back to back as they spun like a top. Once they took care of the tentacles they stopped spinning.

"Good work, Autobots." Perceptor said when he approached Hot Shot and Wheeljack.

Rad, Carlos, and I went up to the two transformers. Perceptor then separated into High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor.

"You kids okay?" Hot Shot asked.

"Yeah, but what about the Shield and Blaster?" Carlos asked.

"We'd better hurry and go after them!" Rad said.

"You're right, Rad." Hot Shot agreed.

"_Wait_!" Alexis yelled, causing us to look at her. That was when I saw that Starscream was still having trouble with the bot-spiders as he tried to fend them off. "Starscream is still being attacked!"

"Go on without me!" Starscream told us, causing Alexis to turn around completely to face him. "I'll catch up! And _stop Sideways_!"

"Yeah, let's move out!" Hot Shot said.

Hot Shot, Wheeljack, the boys, and High Wire and Grindor started to leave, but then Rad seemed to notice that I wasn't following them.

"Are you coming, Valerie?" Rad asked.

"No." I replied, shaking my head. "I'm going to stay behind with Alexis and Sureshock."

Rad seemed somewhat hesitant with my answer, but eventually he left with the others. I made my way over to where Alexis and Sureshock (how had transformed into her moped form) were waiting. I know Alexis was concerned as we watched Starscream continue to defend himself against the bot-spiders. I was confused when he suddenly started running off, but then I saw why when he jumped into the air and twisting around quickly before firing at the bot-spiders. Those tiny creatures were gone by the time Starscream landed on the ground, but then he seemed to be surprised when he noticed us waiting for him.

'_More like he's surprised to see Alexis._' I thought wholeheartedly, smiling as Starscream came over to where we were.

"Why are you still waiting around for me?" Starscream asked, a confused look adorning his face.

"Because you're our friend." Alexis answered as if the answer were obvious.

"I'm your friend?"

"Yeah, that's right! You're our friend! That means we have to help each other."

"Help each other?"

Alexis hummed as she nodded. She then got on Sureshock and I climbed on behind her.

"We better get moving." Alexis told him before Sureshock started riding off. "C'mon, let's go!"

It was quiet, but after awhile we heard the sound of large footsteps following behind us.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Even though his features were hidden by his face mask it wasn't a secret that Jetfire was getting annoyed with this place. He thought this mission would've been easy; find the others, provide backup, and get their afts out ASAP. But much to the shuttle mech's annoyance things weren't going as plan…or the way he wanted them to. It hardly took him any time at all to find the entrance to the underground passageway, but the majority of his time was spent wandering through countless tunnels (he lost track after the fifth tunnel). And so far? No _slagging _progress! None! Zip! Nada! Jetfire had a feeling that if he were human (holoform aside) he'd probably be trying to pull his hair out by now in frustration.

'_Hopefully this next turn will lead me to the others._' He thought, trying to be optimistic about the situation.

But as soon as he turned the corner that optimism quickly deflated.

"Tugh, _great_. Another tunnel that goes _nowhere_." Jetfire complained, showing just how displeased he really was. "Man, I'm the _best_ flyer in the _universe_. How'd I end up getting _stuck_ underground in a place like _this_?"

What was the term humans used in situations like these? _Karma_? Yeah, that sounded just about right. Jetfire couldn't recall any instances where he did something bad enough to deserve bad karma, but then why else was he stuck wandering around these tunnels for so long? He didn't have time for this and the longer he took to navigate through this place the more time he wasted.

"I sure hope I find the others soon." He said quietly.

It wasn't just the others he was worried about, but Valerie as well. He had to save her. Jetfire had tried to communicate with her through their connection, but all he got was some sort of interference. And it didn't help that the only things that _did_ manage to get through were horror, pain, and a desperate need for him. There wasn't any doubt Sideways had something to do with it, which was why he had to hurry.

'_Anything at all for the one you love._' Jetfire mused.

Jetfire was too determined to back down now. He would save Valerie, and even if every second counted against him he refused to admit he was lost!

…

…

…

…

…

'_Okay, so maybe I am lost..._'

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"This place gives me the _creeps_!" Carlos said from where he and the others were up ahead.

'_I'm just glad we managed to catch up to them this fast_.' I thought, feeling relieved.

"C'mon, Starscream! We're falling behind!" Alexis called over her shoulder to where Starscream was behind us.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As soon as they arrived inside Unicron's core Sideways merely took the Skyboom Shield and Requiem Blaster away from Thrust. It was only then that he noticed something, or in this case a lack _of _something.

"You didn't get the Star Saber from Galvatron?" Sideways asked.

"B-but that young Autobot got in my _way_!" Thrust stuttered.

"You've _failed_, Thrust! Unicron will not be pleased that we don't have all the weapons in our possession." Sideways turned around, walking off with the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster.

"B-b-but I ju –"

"No _excuse_ can explain your incompetence!" Sideways yelled, cutting Thrust off as he narrowed his optics at him in anger over his shoulder. He turned back around before placing the Requiem Blaster and the Skyboom Shield on the ground before the giant spark – Unicron's spark – that illuminated the area as its only source of light. "Unicron will awaken and both the Autobots and Decepticons will be _destroyed_! They will become a distant memory... The Mini-Cons' true destiny will be revealed... Those who helped will be rewarded and all others will suffer Unicron's _wrath_!"

He and Thrust gazed up at the spark, but it was only Sideways who was fully appreciate its true nature. The absence of the Star Saber only served to be a minor setback to his plan; he had the Requiem Blaster and the Skyboom Shield after all. But there was still one aspect left which had been oh-so generously delivered to him personally. And the best part was that she was ripe for the taking.

'_It's too bad that Autobot didn't have his way with her when he still had the chance._' He thought in mock sincerity.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As we continued making our way through the organic looking tunnel I started feeling uneasy. It was just like the one I had when I was on that one planet with Hot Shot and Red Alert, before we encountered Nemesis Prime. Did that mean something bad was going to happen like last time?

"It's okay, Valerie." Alexis whispered suddenly, and it was then I realized I was shaking a bit. "There's nothing to be scared of."

We cried out in surprise when the ground suddenly started shaking violently, followed by tentacles coming out of the walls. Hot Shot, Wheeljack, and Starscream started fending them off while protecting us.

"Ah! Get _away_ from me!" Hot Shot yelled as he punched at the tentacles.

Starscream was using his sword ward the tentacles away from me and Alexis, but it was after he sliced through them that this strange purple liquid appeared. As the purple liquid moved in our direction it made contact with the severed tentacles that were on the ground and (to our shock) disintegrated them.

"It's acid!" I said fearfully.

"C'mon! Let's get outta here!" Hot Shot shouted.

We didn't have to be told twice as we started running away as fast as we could down the tunnel, but the passageway up ahead started to close up.

"It's a trap!" Wheeljack exclaimed.

It was too late since the tunnel was completely sealed off and wouldn't open. The purple acid was getting closer to us, but luckily it was at that time that another tunnel decided to open up nearby.

"This way, quick!" Hot Shot yelled before he and the others ran ahead.

"C'mon, Starscream!" Alexis urged as we went through the same tunnel as the others.

"We'll never find Sideways now!" I heard Wheeljack's voice say ahead of us.

"Let's just concentrate on getting outta here alive, okay?_!_" Hot Shot told Wheeljack, looking over his shoulder at him.

Alexis, Starscream, Sureshock, and myself tried to catch up with the others but we suddenly got cut off from them as the tunnel closed right behind them. This wasn't good!

"This can't _get_ any worse!" Alexis exclaimed.

"Don't say that, Alexis! It usually-!" Before I could finish tentacles appeared out of nowhere, but Starscream was able to take care of them. But then another problem appeared in the form of the purple acid we had been running away from. "I _told _you!"

"We're getting outta here!" Starscream announced after he lowered his hand to us. "Climb aboard!"

"Okay!" Alexis said before me and her got on Starscream's hand. "C'mon, Sureshock!"

Sureshock transformed and got on as well. Starscream made sure that had a good hold of us so that we wouldn't fall off.

"Okay. Both of you hang on tight!"

It was a good thing we went with Starscream since he was able to fly over the purple acid with ease. So it looked like we'd be able to get out safely without worrying about the acid. I turned to Alexis and was surprised when she pulled out Laserbeak.

"You have Laserbeak?" I asked.

"Of course. And I gotta make sure the others know we're okay." She told me.

Alexis held her hands out to allow Laserbeak to fly off and find the others. Seeing that it was safe Starscream carefully moved us from his hand so that we could sit on his shoulder. After awhile there was a beeping sound before Alexis pulled out her comlink.

**"Alexis! What happened with you guys? Are you okay?" **Rad asked.

"Rad, Valerie and I are here with Starscream." Alexis told him as she smiled. "We had a couple of close calls, but we're okay. We'll see you on the topside."

Starscream glanced at Alexis as she put away her comlink before looking forward again. Just as he was flying his way through the tunnel some tentacles suddenly appeared and Alexis cried out as one of them managed to pull her necklace off. My eyes widened in shock as I watched it land on the ground.

"Oh no! My good luck charm!" Alexis said before turning to Starscream. "Please, Starscream, we have to stop so I can get it!"

"No way." Starscream told her, looking at her with a stern look. "It's not safe."

"But without that necklace, we won't be safe out here. We just have to stop."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that!"

"I _need_ it!"

Oh crap! I recognized _that _tone! Whenever Alexis used that tone that meant that she already had her mind set and nothing was going to change it. Even if I knew that she'd take matters into her own hands, I was still shocked when she suddenly jumped off Starscream's shoulder. Starscream obviously saw this since he turned to where she was falling.

"Come back!"

I watched as Alexis landed on the ground and rolled a few times before she ended up lying on the ground.

"Sureshock!" I cried, looking at the orange Mini-Con beside me.

Sureshock bleeped, sounding somewhat worried before jumping off just as Starscream stopped to hover in the air.

"_Hurry_! _Grab her_!" Starscream yelled urgently.

I watched as Alexis looked up and over to where her necklace was before running over to it. Sureshock chased after her, but she ended up being grabbed by tentacles just as Alexis picked up the necklace before turning around in shock to see that her Mini-Con companion was in trouble.

"Oh _no_!" I was surprised by the tone of Starscream's voice since it was filled with worry and fear. It almost reminded me of all the times I've heard Jetfire used that tone whenever I was in trouble.

It was then that Starscream used his sword to cut the tentacles that held Sureshock captive before she and Alexis climbed into the Decepticon's servo. It was a good thing they got on when they did since I could see the purple acid coming closer and closer to us, but since Starscream was able to fly he was able to make his way through the tunnel without any trouble at all, not to mention we were now safe. I felt so relieved that Starscream managed to get to Alexis and Sureshock in time, but most of all I was glad that Alexis got her pendant back.

"Thanks a lot, Sureshock. You're the best." Alexis said, looking at Sureshock before hugging her while laughing. "Hahahaha!"

"I guess that necklace means a lot to you." Starscream said. I turned to him to see that he was…smiling. I don't think I've ever really seen him smile before until now.

"Yeah, it's very special to me." Alexis told him before putting her necklace on. "It's made from some kind of rock I found on planet Cybertron."

"Huh?" Was all he said, glancing at Alexis with a thoughtful expression before looking ahead. "Good, I think I see a way out."

'_Liar._' I thought.

I knew Alexis made that part up about the rock on the necklace was make of some rock she found on Cybertron. I knew that it was really from the same Mars rock she got from Starscream when he and Jetfire went on their mission to retrieve the Mini-Con on Mars. All the same, the necklace was still special, but even more since the rock was from Starscream. I have a feeling he must've realized this too, despite what Alexis told him.

I cried out in fright when something wrapped around my middle, left arm, and legs and my head shot to look at what grabbed me, only to be filled by shock and fear when I saw that they were tentacles!

"Valerie!" Alexis cried out.

The tentacles were starting to drag me away from Starscream and Alexis, but then Alexis grabbed my right arm along with Sureshock keeping a hold on my friend as they tried to help save me.

_**{Stop struggling!}**_ I suddenly heard Sideways' voice inside my head. _**{You may have escaped last time, but this time you won't be so lucky!}**_ My eyes widened at this as I realized what he was talking about. _**{That's right, sweet Valerie. The time has come for you to finally play your part in Unicron's plan.}**_

"Hang on, Valerie! We'll save you!" Alexis told me, before turning to Starscream. "Starscream, help Valerie!"

Starscream looked like he was getting ready to swing his wing sword at the tentacles.

_**{Remember, sweet Valerie. This is your fate.}**_

"Stop! Don't save me!" I cried, causing Alexis' eyes and Starscream's optics to widen in shock. "You can't save me! No one can save me now! My fate was determined ever since the day Sideways appeared and the Decepticons ended up taking the Requiem Blaster from the Autobots!" I felt tears start to form in my eyes. "Alexis, you have to let me go. You too, Sureshock."

"What?_!_" Alexis gasped. "Don't talk like that! We're gonna _save_ you! We're both gonna get out of here in one piece! And I'm not gonna let go until we got you back!"

"No, Alexis! You have to let me go!" I saw the look in Alexis' eyes and I knew that she didn't understand why I was telling her this. I could feel the tentacles' pull start to get stronger and it was only a matter of time. My tears started falling from my eyes. This was already starting to get really hard for me to do now, to say the words that I was about to say. "Tell Jetfire…tell Jetfire he tried his best, and that I'm glad that he did! He'll know what you mean if you just tell him!" I turned to Starscream. "Starscream…please take care of Alexis. I'm counting on you to do this first and last favor for me."

This surprised Starscream since I saw his gray optics widened in response. I could feel Alexis and Sureshock struggling to keep a hold of me. If I were to just let go of Alexis' hand I'd be taken away by the tentacles. I gave Alexis, Sureshock, and Starscream a sad smile, knowing what would come next.

"Goodbye Alexis, Starscream, Sureshock…"

I let go of Alexis' hand and I cried out as the tentacles pulled me away from Alexis, Starscream, and Sureshock. I could hear Alexis yelling out my name before I was pulled into a wall near the ceiling. To my horror the tentacles were pulling me through the organic-like wall as if it were nothing more than thick water, and before my head was submerged my world went dark.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Saying that Jetfire was surprised after coming out of the tunnels he was in and seeing Cybertron's moon crumbling was a _huge _understatement. He was completely _shocked _to see it. The surface was coming apart and it looked as if something was trying to come out from underneath it. Luckily he was able to spot both Hot Shot and Wheeljack stranded on the moon with Rad and Carlos in the Autobot's arms while High Wire and Grindor were held in Wheeljack's arms. At first he was worried since he didn't see Valerie with them, but when he spotted Starscream flying out of the corner of his optics he assumed that she was with him and Alexis. So with that he came flying in.

"Hang tight, guys!" Jetfire yelled enthusiastically before stopping. "I'll _getcha _outta here!"

"Well, _hurry up_!" Hot Shot yelled as he looked up at him.

"_Okay_, I'm _coming_, I'm _coming_." He couldn't help but grin behind his face mask despite Hot Shot being impatient. He flew over to where he and Wheeljack were and grabbed a hold of their servo in each of his own. Though he didn't expect the combined weight of the two transformers that slowed him down as he flew upward. They were _heavy_! "You guys have…_really_ put on some _weight_!"

It was a good thing that he came and got them when he did since the objects that were erupting from the moon's surface were coming out, but to Jetfire they reminded him of horns in a way and yet the features seemed familiar to him. His optics widened as he realized _why _they looked familiar. It…couldn't be!

"Is that thing _Unicron_?_!_" Hot Shot asked in shock.

"I kinda thought Unicron was just a _myth_!" Jetfire said honestly, his voice slightly strained from the effort of keeping his grip on the two transformers he was carrying.

"What?_! _The moon was Unicron all along!" Starscream exclaimed.

All the stories that his mother had told him about Unicron had fascinated him when he was still a sparkling, yet they also frightened him as well. He could remember how relieved he felt when she told him that he wasn't real, but actually seeing and finding out that Cybertron's moon was _actually _Unicron was just unbelievable, yet the proof was right before their very optics.

"He must've been spying on _us_ and planet Cybertron all _along_!" He concluded, just realizing how much of a threat Unicron really was and how close to home he had been.

As Jetfire (while carrying Hot Shot and Wheeljack) flew back to Cybertron with Starscream he noticed a group of Autobots looking up at the moon that they had learned was Unicron. Most of their tones were in awe and shock from finding out that the myth they had heard was real. It was still hard for him to believe despite the fact that he had witness the whole thing himself.

'_What's next?_' Jetfire thought. '_The planet Cybertron turning out to be Primus himself?_'

Eventually the landed on Cybertron's surface and Jetfire was glad that he no longer had the extra weight from carrying _both_ Hot Shot and Wheeljack (he didn't think that Rad, Carlos, High Wire, and Grindor would've made that much of a difference to the overall weight of his cargo). He glanced over to where Starscream was just as he was placing Alexis and Sureshock on the ground, but there was no sign of Valerie anywhere at all.

"Where's Valerie?" He asked as he suddenly felt dreadful of the answer.

He didn't miss the saddened yet guilty expression that Alexis had on her face, but he was somewhat surprised that Starscream had the same expression as well, albeit a more toned down version of it. His spark clenched slightly as the dreadful feeling he had grew.

"Jetfire…Valerie was with us as we were trying to get out of Unicron." Alexis said. "We were almost out when these tentacles grabbed her. We tried to save her, but she told us that no one could save her. She wanted me to tell you…that you tried your best and that she was glad you did. And then Valerie was taken away as soon as she let go of my hand."

Jetfire's optics widened in shock upon hearing this and he understood the message Valerie had Alexis give him. She had told him time and time again that Sideways would come for her and that she was scared since she didn't know when he would. He just recently figured out that Sideways had been manipulating her without her knowledge and had rushed as fast as he could in order to save her, but now she was gone. His anger flared up as he turned to Starscream and before he knew it Jetfire found himself punching the Decepticon in the face plate, knocking him to the ground. This shocked everyone since they hadn't expected the shuttle mech to react that way. Jetfire took this time to go up to Starscream and picked him up so that his feet were dangling off the ground.

"You slaggin' glitch!" Jetfire yelled, not hiding his anger from the Decepticon. "Why didn't you save her?_! _You were right there and could've done something, but you let her get taken away!"

"Jetfire!" He heard Hot Shot's voice, but Jetfire ignored it.

"Why didn't you save her?_!_" Jetfire was surprised when two pairs of arms grabbed a hold of his and tried to hold him back from getting at Starscream again. He knew that it must've been Hot Shot and Wheeljack since they were the only other two transformers with them. "TELL ME!"

Glaring at Starscream Jetfire saw that he didn't seem the least bit surprised by his outburst, almost as if he'd expected this to happen. This only made him even angrier than he already was at the moment.

"Jetfire, calm down!"

"No!" He turned to glare at Hot Shot. "Not until I get answers!"

"Don't think I didn't try, Jetfire!" Starscream said, causing the shuttle mech to turn to him. "I would've saved her if I could!"

"You where right _there_! What was stopping you from doing so?_!_"

"She didn't _want _to be _saved_! She said that her fate had been determined ever since we took the Requiem Blaster from you Autobots! I was about to even use my sword but she stopped me!"

Jetfire clenched his servos into fists at this before shoving Hot Shot and Wheeljack away from him.

"Valerie would be here if you'd saved her!" Jetfire growled. "I can't even _depend_ on others to keep her safe anymore!"

Before anyone could respond to what he said Jetfire took off into the sky, not caring what the others thought of his reaction. He landed in a remote location just as his anger slowly started to be replaced by grief; he got on his knees and started pounding his fist on the ground before letting out a yell of anguish. He didn't care if anyone could hear him yelling at all, his processor kept repeating Valerie's message and its meaning. Some part of Valerie must've known something like this would happen eventually as soon as she was captured and sacrificed herself. Starscream wasn't the one he should be angry at, but Sideways! This was all Sideways' fault in the first place! He took advantage of the fact that he hadn't been around to protect his sparkmate, that he hadn't caught on to just how deeply he had manipulated until it was too late and simply took her!

But then Jetfire realized something. Valerie, Alexis, and Starscream had been inside Unicron when this happen. And it was Sideways that had taken her so that she could fulfill her end of their deal. Did that mean that not only Sideways wanted her, but Unicron as well? Was Sideways in cahoots with him?

'_What does this mean?_' Jetfire thought.

Jetfire could barely feel Valerie. He had felt her fear earlier before he came to rescue the others, but then it suddenly went blank, just like it did whenever she fell into a deep sleep. What happened to her after she was captured?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Everyone had been quiet after Jetfire left and most of them were confused by his reaction over the fact that Valerie was taken. As for Starscream he knew the real reason for the shuttle mech's behavior, and he could honestly admit that he probably would've reacted the same way if Alexis had been in Valerie's place.

"This is the end of the line for me, Hot Shot." Wheeljack said after turning to Hot Shot.

"Whaddya _mean_?_!_" Hot Shot asked.

"I'm saying I enjoyed fighting with you but I'm moving on." The look on Wheeljack's face was grim. "We'll meet again...on the battlefield. Later." With that Wheeljack started walking away.

"Hold on! _Wait a minute_!"

Despite Hot Shot's protests Wheeljack ignored him and left. Starscream saw this and decided to leave as well. He didn't want to leave, but he knew he had to.

"Starscream! Don't go! Stay here with _us_!" Alexis begged, and Starscream was very tempted to stay for her, but he just couldn't. "We could really use your help right now."

"You know she's right, Starscream!" Hot Shot added. "How 'bout joining with us?"

Starscream stopped. Again, the offer was very tempting, but after having been a Decepticon for so long and an Autobot for a short time, he knew that he had only one choice despite how much he didn't want to choose it.

"I'll have to pass." Starscream told them after coming to his decision. "I don't want to risk betraying you a second time. It wouldn't be fair."

'_It wouldn't be fair to Alexis, either._' He thought.

"I know you wouldn't do that! You wouldn't betray your friends, would you?" Alexis asked.

"Hmmmm..." Alexis wasn't making things easy for him. She just had to consider him her friend when in reality she was his sparkmate. Starscream was aware that she'd feel attracted to him, but he honestly believed that she deserved someone better than him, someone that wasn't so tainted as himself. But she saw the good in him just as Valerie had. "I'm...not sure. I'm not sure of anything, anymore..." He turned to look at Alexis over his shoulder and he saw that she was looking at him with sympathy in her green eyes. In the end he knew one thing. "You trusted me, Alexis. And I thank you for that."

Starscream turned around before walking away. His decision had been made.

"Oh, Starscream..."

Starscream knew that Alexis was still watching him and it made him feel horrible that he was doing this to her. As he walked away from those he had considered his friends his processor kept repeating Jetfire's words over and over again. He had blamed him for not saving Valerie and could only imagine what he was going through at this moment.

_**Starscream…please take care of Alexis. I'm counting on you to do this first and last favor for me.**_

He was surprised that he recalled that promise as if it happened a few seconds ago. Starscream knew that he'd never forget the sad smile Valerie gave him and Alexis despite the tears that she had been crying at the time. He hadn't expected her to give him such a request or the fact that she sacrificed herself like that. It was as if she knew there was no other option for her. But her last words showed him just how much she trusted him and he was sad that he couldn't do anything to save her, for Jetfire's sake.

'_I'm sorry, Valerie, but I might not be able to keep that promise I made to you._' He thought sadly. '_I have something I need to take care of first before I can…be with her._'

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Sideways smirked behind his face mask as his pink optics gazed at Valerie's unconscious form, bound to the wall by tentacles as the light from Unicron's spark shone on her. He chuckled. At last she was finally his and she would soon play her part in the Chaos Bringer's plan.

"Why could you possibly be laughing, Sideways?" Thrust asked, completely dumbfounded. "It's just a small insignificant human! Completely useless!"

"That's where you're wrong, Thrust." Sideways told him, turning to face Thrust. "She's quite the opposite."

"I fail to see how she could be of use to me—I mean Unicron."

Sideways didn't miss Thrust's supposed "slipup" and narrowed his optics. Even if he swore loyalty to Unicron, he knew that he would get what he deserved.

'_In due time._' He told himself.

"She'll play a vital part to Unicron's plan." He explained. "She happens to be the first human to be sparkmates with a Cybertronian."

"_What_?_!_ The _first_ human to be a Cybertronian's sparkmate?"

"To be more specific, she's the Autobot Vice Commander's sparkmate." Sideways couldn't help but smirk at Thrust's expression. Completely priceless. "Because of this, she'll help fuel the hatred between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Just capturing her has caused Jetfire to feel hatred towards Unicron."

"What…an excellent idea, Sideways. I'm sure Unicron would be _most _pleased."

"Oh, he's _pleased _alright."

'_More than you know._' Sideways added silently.

"It wouldn't hurt to consider her as an alternate resource in case the Autobots and Decepticons...no longer _hated _each other."

"What kind of alternate resource could she provide Unicron?"

"Fear. A fear sweeter than the best high grade energon Cybertron has to offer."

With this Sideways laughed darkly. All the pieces were falling into place and once he got the Star Saber it was only a matter of time before the first act began.

'_Enjoy your little dreams while you still can. Because when you wake up, that's when your nightmares will begin._'

* * *

ATE: Looks like you've finally reached the end of this chapter. Thanks for taking the time to read this chapter that I worked really hard to write.

I'll tell you right now that I've made two references: one of them being a reference to Transformers Cybertron while the other one is from a different anime that happens to have a movie that takes place after its series. If you can find these two references, then you'll get some cyber cookies of your choice and flavor!

Please remember to review! ;D


	25. Cramp

___ATE: Hey everyone! *Barely dodges tomatoes and flying screetching cats* Okay, okay, okay! I'm sorry for taking so long! But I have an excuse. No wait, a few actually!_

(1) I deliberately procrastinated  
(2) I dreaded having to write this chapter due to how we all know the episode ends  
(3) Playing and getting into Devil May Cry (seriously, I barely even knew anything about the games or anime and then I just got into it when I started playing the HD collection of 1-3 and 4)  
(4) Playing Bullet Witch (for the sake of my new story that I recently posted

**Of Devils and** **Witches**)  
(5)___The main villainous culprit is...COLLEGE! Yeah, I was kept busy due to college._

Anyways, big thanks goes out to

_** Bee4ever**_,_** Crystalmaiden62**_,_** pokemonjkl**_, _**Autobot NightFury**_, _**AllSpark Princess**_, _**storygirl99210**_, **_Autobot-Bre_**for reviewing the last chapter chapter and for everyone else reading the story in my LONG absence. For those who need a reminder, this chapter will cover the events of Episode 48 (Cramp) from Transformers Armada. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, or anything relating to it. I do own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

* * *

Chapter 25 - Cramp

_**(Starscream)**_

"Galvatron, why do we have to fight?" Starscream asked, kneeling down before Galvatron. "For just this once can't you put aside your petty argument with Optimus?"

"That's enough!" Galvatron snapped. "How dare you question me, Starscream."

"But if we don't join forces with the Autobots, chances are good that both sides won't survive the wrath of Unicron."

"You're testing my _patience_!"

Starscream looked off to the side, almost thoughtfully.

"I'm just worried there won't be a second chance before Unicron destroys the universe as we know it."

"Enough about Unicron!" Starscream turned back to face Galvatron when he heard his harsh voice bellow. "I'm sick and tired of listening to your pathetic _whining_! And the day will soon come when Unicron_ is _defeated!"

"It will be too late!" Starscream stated, crawling forward a bit.

"You simpleton, Optimus and I are sworn enemies!"

"But Galvatron-sir, I don't think Optimus would make this offer unless he truly _believed_it."

Starscream was taken by surprise when Galvatron hit him, sending him flying and slamming into the side of the ship.

"Let me give you fair warning, Starscream. Don't you_ dare_ cross me _again_!"

"I would never!" Starscream pleaded from where he sat on the ground. "You've got to believe me!"

Galvatron growled. But this did little to make Starscream back down. He was too determined to do so.

"I beg of you, sir! Listen, you and Optimus must put aside your differences right away or there'll be nothing left to defend on either side. Don't you realize the gravity of _this_?"

The sound of Cyclonus' laughing reached Starscream's audio receptor as he knew the maniacal Decepticon stood with both Demolishor and Tidal Wave to his left

"Would you give it a rest?" Cyclonus mocked. "Galvatron knows what he's doing!"

"Yeah, unless, of course, you're ready to jump ship again, you useless traitor!" Demolishor agreed.

Tidal Wave merely gave of a deep chuckle at this.

"Go ahead and laugh!" Starscream yelled, having turned to address them. "But soon that pea brain of yours will be sorry."

Galvatron smiled smugly.

"Oh, I think Optimus is the one who is going to be sorry, as soon as I defeat him. And that goes for Unicron as well."

However, Galvatron's smug smile soon disappeared as he turned to glare at Starscream.

"Huh?_!_" Starscream exclaimed in surprise.

Galvatron and the others can be seen overlooking a bunch of Decepticon ships can be seen.

"You see, my dear Starscream, there can only be one supreme commander of the universe. And trust me, in due course, _I _shall eliminate my competition."

Starscream stood up at this, taking a step towards Galvatron.

"I still can't believe you still think you can defeat Unicron all by your –"

"I don't care what you believe." Galvatron glanced over at him. "I will destroy Optimus first and_ then _I will worry about Unicron."

"That's insanity! The only way we can survive is if our two armies join forces, Galvatron!"

"_Enough_!"

Galvatron slashed at Starscream with the Star Saber, but he managed to dodge the blow.

"You can't do this, sir!" He protested, all the while with Galvatron pointing the tip of the Star Saber at him.

"But I must give you credit for _seeing_ through Thrust and his attempt to subvert my plans. In that regard, I was quite _impressed_. However, I require one's _full_ loyalty. Is any of this _sinking in_, Starscream?"

Starscream knew at this point that it was, in fact, pointless to try to argue with Galvatron. He was too stubborn to listen to his own words at this point.

"I understand, sir."

"Gentlemen!" Galvatron announced. "It appears we have a date with destiny! Follow my lead!"

"Yessir!" Everyone except Starscream responded.

Galvatron walked off while the others followed him. However, Cyclonus decided to stick behind long enough to talk with Starscream.

"What's the matter, Starscream? Are you just going to sit there and _mope_or are you gonna join us and kick some Auto-butt?" Cyclonus asked in fake sincerity. "Oh, and you better hurry up and make up your mind or you're gonna miss Galvatron's victory party!"

With that Cyclonus walked off laughing.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Would someone explain what's going on?" Fred asked, turning to face his friends.

"Get in the game, Fred." Billy scolded Fred. "Optimus is meeting up with the Decepticons."

"I just don't get it." Carlos admitted, his arms crossed. "I mean, I understand what Optimus wants to do and all, but I don't trust that Galvatron one little bit."

"Well guys, I guess we just have to trust Optimus." Alexis stated, causing everyone to look at her.

"I understand you're suspicious." Optimus stated. "But to defeat Unicron, we need _everyone _we can recruit - including Galvatron."

"There's no _way _he's gonna buy into your plan, Optimus." Rad stated.

"Well, that goof doesn't have a choice." Billy said, facing Rad.

"But we'll give him one." Optimus said, turning to face Jetfire.

"I've got a lock, sir." Sideswipe said from where he sat at the console. Beside him Blurr looked at the monitor to see what was going on as well. "Decepticons approaching at twelve o'clock."

"Attention, men." Optimus announced, causing the other Autobots to stand up. "It's time to head them off, but remember, this is not a battle. All we want to do is talk to Galvatron. I don't want any Decepticons harmed, so it's imperative that we fire _only _in defense. Red Alert, you stay and look after the ship."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_**(Starscream)**_

Starscream gazed up at the statue of Galvatron. Ironically enough, if one were to look at it a certain way it would've looked like he were holding the moon in his hand. But seeing as they had all come to discover that Cybertron's moon had, in fact, been Unicron this whole time, it only emphasized Galvatron's foolhardy ambition to defeat the Chaos Bringer.

"I wish I knew...what to do!" He said to himself, turning away from the statue..

Starscream suddenly has a flashback of Alexis.

_**It's easy!**_

Suddenly imagines of Alexis appeared in Starscream's processor as he recalled her words.

_**The only thing you have to say is thank you.**_

The more he thought about her, the more his spark ached with guilt.

_**I believe in you, Starscream.**_

'I _must protect the humans!_' He thought before lifting his head up.

"I must!"

His processor was set. Starscream knew what he had to do. He flew off into the sky, knowing that he had to get both the Autobots and Decepticons to unite together to defeat Unicron. He would succeed or die trying.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_**(Jetfire)**_

Jetfire waited with Optimus while waited somewhere else for the Decepticons to arrive. The others would distract the Decepticons (without risking any casualties in the process) while they allowed Galvatron to pass on over so Optimus could negotiate with him.

'_I just hope we can convince _Galvatron_ to join forces_.' He thought. But it wasn't enough to distract him from what happened not too long ago. '_Valerie…_'

"Jetfire?" He heard Optimus ask him. "Are you okay?"

"I can't feel her…" Jetfire said quietly, trying to keep his emotions in check for the time being. "I can barely feel her right now. It scares me not knowing if she's frightened or not. And I have no way of reassuring her that everything's going to be okay."

Jetfire stiffen slightly when he felt Optimus place a servo on his shoulder and he turned to look at his leader.

"I know, Jetfire. We'll save her as soon as we're able to, but for now we need to focus on convincing Galvatron to join forces with us."

"Thanks, Optimus." Jetfire smiled a small smile behind his face mask. "I'm gonna go up to see if I can spot Galvatron coming."

"Good idea."

Jetfire flew up into the sky in order to keep a lookout for Galvatron. After some time, he spotted something in the distance approaching, and fast!

"Optimus! Incoming!" Jetfire warned, and no sooner Galvatron landed on the ground.

"There you are, Prime! It's time to shut you down." Galvatron said before he started shooting at Optimus. However, the Autobot Leader didn't do anything. "So, you want to negotiate, do you? Okay, I'm game. Let's play it your way. Let the negotiations begin!" He fired a blast at Optimus. "What's wrong, you forget your ammo?"

"Guess again, Galvatron!" Optimus replied.

"You _fool_!"

"Jetfire!"

"I hear ya, sir... And I'm comin' in!" Jetfire answered from where he was in the sky before flying towards Optimus.

Both Optimus and Jetfire Powerlinked together into Jet Optimus, along with Overload combining with them.

"Oh, Optimus... You and your fancy little gadgets." Galvatron said, somewhat amused. "Huh? What the?" Why was his enemy flying away?_!_ "Oh no, you don't. You're not getting away this time." Galvatron flew after him. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to have a little _chit-chat_, Prime."

"I do, but only when you calm down, Galvatron." Optimus said calmly.

"You just want to get rid of Unicron. Yeah, right. Nice try, but it's not going to work!" Optimus cried out in pain when Galvatron suddenly fired a black at him. Not only did Jetfire feel the pain as well, but he also felt the pain from landing on the ground hard as well. Optimus managed to get to his knees. Galvatron laughed as he landed on the ground. "I guess this is where it _finally _ends, Optimus Prime."

"Your lust for power _sickens _me! Don't you _get_ it?_!_" Optimus shouted as he glanced over at Galvatron before standing up.

"You're the one that's about to - _get it_! You misjudge me, Prime. I don't like games. There can only be one leader in this universe, and unfortunately, it's not going to be _you_. Now do the honorable thing, you miserable coward. Stand up and _fight_!" Galvatron lunged forward with the Star Saber to attack Jet Optimus, but he jumped into the air to dodge the attack before he, Jetfire, and Overload separated. "Excellent! It looks like we're back in business. Tidal Wave, attack!"

"Attack!" Tidal Wave bellowed as soon as he separated from Galvatron.

"I see you're in need of a weapon, Prime." Galvatron said as he and Optimus faced each other.

"I didn't come here to fight, but if you attack, I'll defend myself." Optimus stated.

"Ha! You're a fool to the end, Optimus."

Galvatron started charging at Optimus, who barely dodged the Star Saber attacking him by jumping. He landed before Galvatron turned around to fire at him, but Optimus managed to counterattack. The impact of both attacks caused a blinding flash of light to appear, forcing Jetfire to raise his arms over his optics on reflex.

"Optimus!" Jetfire cried out.

Upon hearing Tidal Wave yelling out Galvatron's name, Jetfire knew that the oversized Decepticon was doing the same thing he was. Eventually he blinding light disappeared.

"Cannonball!" Tidal Wave yelled as he started firing at Optimus.

"Would you please just butt out of this, Tidal Wave?" Galvatron ordered, giving a quick glance over to Tidal Wave. "Can't you see Optimus and I were right in the middle of our _negotiations_? Now go play somewhere else!"

Jetfire took this perfect opportunity to fire at Tidal Wave's left optic with his blaster, causing him to yell out in pain. Then again the shuttle mech suppose it _did _sound painful now that he thought about it.

"Now that's what I call a _bull's eye_!" Jetfire exclaimed, hovering in place in the air before flying off and tackling Tidal Wave. As soon as this occurred Jetfire activated his boosters as he pushed the large Decepticon away from the area. "I'll take out the trash, Optimus! You take care of Galvatron!"

_**(Optimus)**_

"Jetfire..." Optimus muttered as he watched the shuttle mech leave.

Galvatron chuckled.

"Well I guess that leaves you and me. Just the way I imagined it. So let's cut to the chase and get this over with, shall we? You're mine." Galvatron said, before slashing at Optimus' left arm, rendering it useless for now. Galvatron started walking towards Optimus. "How long have we been adversaries, Optimus? It seems like since the beginning of the time. And I suppose I do have a certain respect for you, but I digress. You might have fooled Starscream with your little truce ploy, but I'm nobody's fool. Now let's end this charade, shall we?_!_"

"It's not a charade!" Optimus argued.

"Enough!"

Galvatron tried to attack Optimus with the Star Saber, but the Autobot Leader blocked the blow by catching the blade between his servos.

"Starscream didn't fall for anything! He just saw the truth!"

"Don't feed me your_ lies_! The Decepticons and Autobots are like oil and water. We could never join forces. You and I both know it's true. That leaves only one question to answered, who will be left to rule the universe?_!_"

"Don't be a _fool_!"

"You're in no position to call me names. I grow tired of your mind games and it's time to end this conversation." Galvatron placed his other servo on the hilt of the Star Saber. "It's been a real pleasure knowing you, Optimus Prime. Sayonara!"

Optimus struggled with Galvatron as he tried to keep the Star Saber from damaging him further.

"What's the matter? You're not so tough, are you?" Galvatron seemed to realize something. "Wait, I've got it. You're waiting for the Mini-Cons to save you! Well, you're out of luck, because they aren't coming this time!" He was taking by surprise when Optimus _allowed _the blade of the Star Saber to damage his shoulder "What?_!_"

Suddenly a blast went off behind Galvatron and caused him to turn around. Through the smoke both Autobot and Decepticon leader could see the outline of a transformer walking towards them as it started to clear. But Optimus' optics widened when he saw them pull out a red beamed sword.

"It's..." He started.

"I don't believe it!" Galvatron said before growling. And just then the figure used their sword to clear the smoke, revealing a familiar form. "Starscream!"

The game's over, Galvatron!" Starscream said, frowning.

_**(Starscream)**_

"I hope you realize you're playing a very dangerous game, Starscream." Galvatron said.

"I've made my choice, Galvatron." Starscream claimed. "There's only one path to survive Unicron, and that's to follow Optimus!"

"Why you..."

"Stay out of this, Starscream. This is between Galvatron and me. Now just back away!" Optimus told the seeker.

"I don't mean any disrespect, Optimus, but I'm not going anywhere." Starscream said.

"Huh?" Optimus was surprised by Starscream's determination.

"You understand you'll pay for this." Galvatron growled. "No one defies my command and gets _away _with it!"

"Sorry, I don't work for you anymore. I've made up my mind to bring this to an end." Starscream raised his wing sword above his head. "And once all is said and done, Unicron will be destroyed and the universe will be at _peace_!"

"May I suggest that you have lost your mind! I'll destroy –"

"Come and get a taste of my blade, Galvatron." Starscream didn't let Galvatron finish.

He raised his sword over his head.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_**(Alexis - On the Axalon)**_

Alexis gazed down at the green stone of the pendent she held in her hands. She was worried about Starscream after he had left them again. She knew the others were watching the battle on the monitor and she knew that if she were to look now, she'd just end up getting more worried over Starscream.

"Ooh! I have never seen so much firepower before!" Carlos exclaimed.

"And what happened to Optimus?_!_" Fred cried.

"Aw man, it looks like his whole strategy has gone completely out the window!" Billy said.

At this Alexis covered the green stone with her hands before turning to face the boys.

"Don't worry." Alexis said, causing Rad to turn to face her. "Everything is gonna be all right, you guys."

'_At least I hope so._' She thought to herself.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_**(Starscream)**_

Both Galvatron's and Starscream's swords clash together as they struggled to overcome the other.

"I'll give you one last chance to save your neck, Starscream." Galvatron said.

"My only chance is to see you unite with Optimus." Starscream stated.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Starscream." Optimus said quietly as he watched Galvatron and Starscream fight.

As the fighting continued Starscream ended up getting his chest plate cut slightly before I started sparking. Galvatron laughed at this, but it was short-lived when a cut appeared on his abdomen and sparked as well. But that was the least of their surprise when Lightning suddenly struck down between them. They both looked up and Starscream's optics widened when he saw that Unicron was slowly starting to awaken a bit.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_**(Alexis)**_

"What's going on?" Alexis asked, having seen what was happening with Unicron on the monitor.

"Unicron's starting changing his form again." Rad said before the kids looked over to the Mini-Cons when they started bleeping. "Huh?"

High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor were waving their arms in the air, almost in alarm or something. The kids turned back to the monitor to see that the Mini-Cons outside the Axalon were flying towards Unicron.

"Look, Rad!" She said. "The Mini-Cons are headed towards Unicron!"

The Mini-Cons gathered together in time to block a lightning attack from Unicron.

"Oh no! The horror! The horror!" Fred cried out in fear.

"No, High Wire!" Rad cried, blocking the three Mini-Cons' way when they tried to leave. "I can't let you out there! It's too dangerous!"

"Just hang in there, okay?" Carlos asked, causing High Wire to glance over at him. "We've gotta give Optimus a little more time."

"And you've gotta tell the other Mini-Cons to stay put." Rad added.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_**(Starscream)**_

"I've often wondered what it'd be like to battle against you, Galvatron, but your words are stronger than your fighting abilities! I'm very disappointed!" Starscream admitted as both he and Galvatron's swords were still locked together.

"Ah, you insolent fool!" Galvatron said. He knocked Starscream's wing sword out of his hands and had lunged forward to swipe at him, but the seeker managed to dodge the Decepticon Leader's attack and reclaimed his blade. Galvatron's optics widened as he watched Starscream come sweeping down from the sky with sword in hand. "Oh, no!" Starscream's attack would've been successful if Galvatron hadn't dodged when he did. Strangely enough Galvatron smirk in amusement. "An 'A' for effort, but unfortunately, your misguided aspirations are about to end in _failure_, Starscream."

"This battle's far from over, Galvatron." Starscream also smirked as well.

"Oh, right. I've forgot who you are..." Galvatron said sarcastically. "A mere Decepticon soldier whose programming has gone haywire. I admire your moxie, but sadly I must inform you that your brave attempt to overthrow me is about to end in failure. Unless of course you decide to turn and walk away right now. And _maybe_ if I'm still in a good mood, I might spare your miserable life. This is my final offer, Starscream." Of course Starscream knew that Galvatron wouldn't give him enough time to think something like this over and saw his smirk disappear to be replaced by a frown. "All right, then! I believe you've made your final decision, haven't you? Well, now it's time to pay the consequences, _soldier_!"

"Get down!" Optimus suddenly shouted urgently. It was at that time that Unicron's lightning struck the ground and came dangerously close to hitting Starscream and Galvatron. "Unbelievable..."

The seeker had taken this time to strike at Galvatron while he was distracted, but Galvatron managed to block his sword by using his own arm.

"Oh, I'm impressed, Starscream. But not enough to be worried. So do the smart thing and back down while you still can!" Starscream turned to face Galvatron. "Better hurry and decide, Starscream!" Starscream jumped away from Galvatron when he pushed his sword away from him. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... TIME'S UP!"

Both Galvatron and Starscream slashed at each other at the same time.

"Errugh... You're starting to annoy me - Starscream!" Galvatron growled, with Starscream's sword next to his head.

However, Starscream wasn't so lucky since the Star Saber had stabbed him in the chest.

"It's the _least _I could do!" Starscream said, as if he hadn't been stabbed at all. But the pain he felt told him otherwise. And so far, he did a pretty good job at hiding it.

"Starscream!" He watched as Galvatron's optics widened in shock before he knelt down slightly, releasing his hold on the Star Saber. "Where in the universe did you get all this _power_?_!_"

"Right now that doesn't - matter, does it, Galvatron?" Despite his injuries Starscream smiled as his processor began to register the pain.

"Tell me. Why did you let me run you through like that, soldier?"

Starscream was about to open his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a groan before he fell backwards and landed on the ground. His wing sword flew out of his servo and managed to stab itself into the ground.

"This has all been a complete waste of my time!" Galvatron yelled, turning back to Starscream.

"I remember...a very long time ago... I swore an oath to you, Galvatron... And I can never break that oath."

"You had this planned all along, didn't you?" Galvatron stood up and glared down at him.

"I did, sir. But all of this could have been prevented... if you only had given me some respect."

"Save your breath, Starscream."

But Starscream wouldn't obey Galvatron, not this time.

"I tried to gain favor from you, but nothing was ever good enough... No matter how many battles I fought, you always found fault." Starscream noticed Optimus approaching to where they were, knowing that he had to say what needed to be said, so that Galvatron could understand what _needed _to be done. "Then I saw how Optimus treated his men... And I realized he was a leader with integrity... Unlike you."

"You were too weak to ever _gain _my respect."

"None of that matters now..." Starscream struggled to get up, enduring the pain as he eventually managed to stand up. "You must listen! Do as Optimus says and join forces with the Autobots or else every last one of us is doomed!" He tried to take a step forward, but fell to one knee. But all the same he looked up still smiling. "Please, sir. Do it for me."

Starscream's optics locked on to Unicron as the Chaos Bringer started acting up again. He recalled Valerie's last words to him and the request she made to him before she was take. She was still inside that _thing_! And then he spotted Jetfire in the distance, seeing that both he and Tidal Wave had stopped fighting in order to watch what was happening. He could still remember how angry Jetfire had been when he had found out about Valerie being taken and that he didn't save her. He could only imagine how much pain he was probably in and how scared he was at the moment since he didn't know what would happen to his sparkmate. And Alexis… Primus only knows how much pain she was going to be in from his death which seemed to be unavoidable by this point.

'_If only I had told her sooner._' He thought sorrowfully.

If only he hadn't been tricked by Thrust into stealing the Skyboom Shield from the Autobots. If only he hadn't left the Autobots in the first place. If only he knew a lot of the things he knew now back then, maybe then none of all this would've been as catastrophic as it was now. He knew what he had to do at this point now. It was now or never. He placed his servo on the blade of the Star Saber and attempted to pull it out.

"No, Starscream! Don't!" Optimus cried out.

But he ignored Optimus' voice along with his own pain. His chest plate started sparking as soon as he pulled out the Star Saber before tossing it aside. It was at that point that Starscream realized just how close the Star Saber had been to piercing his own spark which could be seen through the tear in his armor.

"It's time to finish this once and for all! Activate proton cannons!" Starscream yelled before shooting a blast directed towards Unicron. "YOU'RE ALL MINE, UNICRON!"

As soon as he fired at Unicron, Starscream forced his Mini-Con partner, Swindle, to eject since he knew that he probably wasn't going to come back. And then Starscream was hit by a blast of lightning Unicron had unleashed.

'_I'm sorry, Alexis…_' He thought as his body was slowly being disintegrated.'_Maybe…in another life…we could…we could be…_'

But he never finished his thoughts. His thoughts were no more. All that was left was black oblivion…and the rest was silence.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_**(Alexis)**_

Alexis was shocked when the green stone in her hands suddenly cracked. Why did it crack? What was happening?

"What's going on out there, Alexis?" Rad asked, having turned to Alexis. Something didn't feel right. For some reason Alexis felt as if something was terribly wrong! She suddenly ran out of the Bridge. Alexis suddenly runs out of the room as Rad chases after her. "Alexis! Alexis, wait!"

Despite Rad telling her to wait, Alexis didn't listen. She couldn't stop running! Images of Starscream kept appearing in her head and she had a feeling that this dreadful feeling she had had something to do with him. She ran down the hallway, only to stop in front of a window where she saw Unicron and a beam of purple light heading towards him.

"Alexis, wait up!"

The light almost reached Unicron, but by the time Alexis heard Rad's footsteps the light faded away. She could do nothing but stare at it.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_**(Jetfire)**_

Jetfire watched as Galvatron picked up the Star Saber before heading over to where Optimus stood. They both gazed down at the crater where Starscream had been standing earlier. He was shocked that Starscream was gone. Even though he was a Decepticon, he was still a friend who had given up his life in order to see that both Autobots and Decepticons were united against a common threat, Unicron. Jetfire knew that Alexis was going to be in pain from this, even if she hadn't spent as much time around Starscream as he had with Valerie. Regardless of that he knew she was going to be feeling the pain and wouldn't be able to understand why it was there.

'_That could have easily been me if I had been in Starscream's place. And Valerie…!_' Jetfire didn't want to think of how much pain she would be in if that had been the case.

"It's over, Swindle." He heard Optimus tell the Mini-Con. "But he fought like a brave soldier until the end."

Swindle bleeped in response to what Optimus said, seeming to realize what was going on. Galvatron lifted up the Star Saber as he gazed down at it and Jetfire could only guess what the Decepticon Leader was thinking at that point in time before he turned to Optimus and held out the Star Saber to him. As soon as Optimus had placed his hand on the hilt of the sword a cloud of nanobots leaped out of the crater.

"What?_!_" Galvatron exclaimed as the nanobots took the Star Saber away.

To Jetfire's shock the cloud of nanobots formed into Sideways, holding the Star Saber up in the air victoriously.

"Ha, ha, ha! Everything is now in place." Sideways declared.

"Sideways!" Galvatron growled.

"And the mighty Unicron shall inherit the Star Saber Sword!"

"No!" Optimus cried.

Jetfire saw red as soon as he saw Sideways and before he knew it he found himself speeding towards him with the help of his boosters.

"SIDEWAYS!" Jetfire yelled, pulling out his blaster and firing at him as he got closer.

Sideways just stood there, but at the last minute he turned into that cloud of nanobots which allowed his attacks to go through him. But one thing Jetfire didn't expect was for him to slash at him with the Star Saber, sending the shuttle mech to the ground.

"Well, if it isn't Jetfire." Sideways chuckled. "So tell me, _Autobot_, how does it feel to know that you failed to protect the one you love? It wouldn't be the first time, now would it?"

"Why you…!" He growled, and Sideways knew all too well that he touched a sore topic.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but we have a _universe _to destroy!"

"Not so fast, Sideways!" Galvatron said, aiming his cannon at him.

Both Optimus and Galvatron started firing at Sideways, but he merely turned into a cloud of nanobots and flew away into a hole with the Star Saber, going underground. The Autobot and Decepticon Leaders ran over to the hole and Galvatron growled in frustration.

"What else can go wrong?_!_ This is a _nightmare_!" Galvatron said.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Sideways arrived in front of the portal inside the underground passageways that led to Unicron. He didn't waste any time firing at the tunnels, laughing at the chaos he unleashed as he made sure _no one _would be able to use the tunnels again. At least not anytime soon, that is. As soon as the deed was done he picked up the Star Saber and ran into the portal before he could get trapped.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_**(Alexis)**_

Alexis' eyes widened in shock when she heard Optimus tell them what happened to Starscream on the monitor. Sure the boys and Red Alert were shocked, but nowhere close to how she was currently feeling.

"Starscream, no!" Fred cried loudly, latching onto Billy who was too shocked to react.

Carlos fell to his knees at the news while Rad's shoulders shook. As for Alexis, she couldn't stop herself from crying as soon as the first tear fell from her eyes.

She ran out of the room and back to the window she had been at earlier, the pain in her chest feeling all the more worse than it did before. It felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest and was being stabbed repeatedly by some sharp object. Why was she in so much pain? Why was this happening? She started banging her fist against the window in her grief, but she stopped when her hand got sore. That was when she remembered the green stone still clasped in her fisted hand and lowered it, opening it to reveal the cracked stone of her pendent. Staring at it made her feel slightly better, but not by much. It help, yet it made the pain she felt become worse.

_**I'm sorry, Alexis… Maybe…in another life…we could…we could be…**_

"Alexis..." She heard Rad's voice ask from behind as he took a step towards her.

She turned around slightly to glance at him and she saw the look of pity he gave her when he saw her mournful look. She suddenly turned around to face him with fresh tears falling from her eyes.

"Why?_!_ Why?_!_" She cried, pounding on Rad's chest before she clutched at his shoulders. "Why did Starscream do that to himself?_!_"

"I wish I had the answers, Alexis." He answered sadly, and after awhile, he placed an arm around her.

Starscream was gone, and her heart felt as if it had been shattered into pieces.

* * *

ATE: Thanks for reading everyone. As you all may have noticed, there's an absence of Valerie throughout the entire chapter and she's only mentioned. That was my intention to show just how much her absence not only affects everyone in the story, but the reader as well since she has been with us since chapter 1. Since I finished this chapter I think writing the others will be a little more easier since I don't have a character death (for the characters we _do _like) hanging over my shoulder like this one. Again, that was the main reason why I didn't want to write this chapter, but it was high time that I did so, as I should've done months ago. Well, I posted this drawing back in September that I never did get to share with you guys, but I think you'll all like it (without the spaces):

**_ aerith -the- evenstar .deviantart gallery /335 41 58 7#/d 5ew azj_**

Please Remember to Review! ;D


	26. Alliance

ATE: Hey, everybody! *Dodges multiple objects being thrown* Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why the hostility? *Looks at date for the last uploaded chapter* What? It's been almost 6 MONTHS since I last updated? Sorry 'bout that! I kinda got distracted by college, video games, and temporary lost of motivation when it came to writing fanfics. But I finally got over it and forced myself to finish this chapter that you all have been waiting almost 6 months for. I wanna thank **storygirl99210**,** Bee4ever**, **Link's Rose**, **Autobot NightFury**,** AllSpark Princess**, **SeekerLuna**, **Zeltrax541**, **WILDTRON01**, **CuteSparkling**, **dragonbookaddict**,** anissa**, and** Sognatori's Last Dragon **for their reviews so far and anyone else whose still stuck to this story for this long during the 6 month hiatus. As for this chapter, it's covering the events of Episode 49 (Alliance) of Transformers Armada. I'm glad to finally get this done after my long absence of writing and updating.

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, or anything I made reference to within this chapter. I only own my OCs Valerie and Astera.

* * *

Chapter 26 - Alliance

Both Thrust and Sideways (who was holding the Star Saber) stood in front of Unicron's spark, the glow providing enough light to illuminate the area.

"Everything is now in place." Thrust exclaimed. "All we have to do now is await Unicron's rouse from his slumber! And once he does, I shall serve at his right-hand, making me the second most _powerful_ being in the cosmos!"

"Don't get carried away, Thrust. Remember, _we_ still have a war to win. But once Unicron obliterates those incompetent Decepticons and mindless Autobots, _then_ we can celebrate our victory. A victory unlike any the universe has _ever_ witnessed! We will hold the keys to power and because we've destroyed _all_ our enemies, we shall reign unchallenged!" Sideways stated before raising the Star Saber he held into the air. "All hail Unicron!"

Sideways stabbed the Star Saber into the ground, causing pale green lights to appear all around them and then smaller ones to travel through the veins inside the room. It was finally done. Unicron was awakened with his full power.

"Your work is done, Thrust. Leave us now. I can take it from here." Sideways suddenly said.

"But what do you mean?" Thrust asked, turning to face his ally in his confusion.

"You're in the _way_!" Sideways turned to face Thrust. "Now get lost before I lose my temper."

"But Sideways!"

Sideways narrowed his pink optics into a glare before growling quietly. Thrust's optics widened in surprise as he realized that was the only warning he was going to get from Sideways when it came to his temper.

"I...understand. In that case, as his _new_ right-hand man, I'll send away the entire guard outside as well." Thrust laughed nervously before leaving.

"Heh. Yeah right." Sideways muttered doubtfully after turning to face Unicron's spark.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Jetfire sat on his berth within his quarters on the Axalon. He was still worried about Valerie and the fact that he couldn't feel her presence through their connection wasn't helping in the least bit. His servos tightened into fists, and his audio receptors were able to pick up the metallic screeching sound they made. This was all Sideways' fault! If it hadn't been for him none of this would be happening! Valerie would've still been here with him safe and sound!

'_I know you can't hear me, Valerie, but I _will_ save you!_' He promised. '_One way or another, even if I get offlined in the process of it all! I'll make Sideways pay for what he's done, not just to us, but to everyone else in the universe as well!_'

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

I groaned quietly as my mind slowly start to wake up. Even though I eventually regained consciousness my mind still felt fuzzy and my eyelids felt heavy. And then awareness started to set in when I remembered what happened and my eyes shot open.

'_Where am I?_' I thought frantically, looking around anxiously with wide eyes.

Wherever I was, I was alone. The place reminded me of the tunnels I had been in with my friends earlier, except it was more like a large (to me) room. The area was somewhat dimly lit, and it probably would've been completely dark if it wasn't for the glowing light coming from the large core looking object in the center of the room. Every time the glowing core brightened and dimmed I could hear the steady sound of what seemed to be a heartbeat. At the top of the glowing core were veins that had small dots of light traveling away from the core. But what shocked me was when I spotted the Star Saber, the Skyboom Shield, and the Requiem Blaster situated around the core as they were being held upright in place by those tentacles I've seen countless times already.

"I see that you finally decided to wake up."

My head shot in the direction the familiar voice came from and my eyes widened in shock and fear when I suddenly found Sideways standing in front of me! He wasn't there before and I could've sworn I had been alone!

"Sideways?_!_" I cried out fearfully. I suddenly started getting a dull headache and I tried to bring my hands up to hold my head, but I couldn't move them! I looked to where my arms were and to my horror I found that they were bound by those tentacles. No matter how hard I struggled to get them free it proved to be useless. I turned back to Sideways in fear. "Let me go! Please!"

I couldn't believe how pitiful I sounded at this point. My face must've looked just as pitiful as my voice sounded since Sideways chuckled darkly.

"Now why would I do that? We had a deal, remember?" He reminded me, and I felt my face go pale at this. "You can beg all you want, but you'll never get your freedom back. But I must commend you for your performance so far in light of everything that's happened since you left Earth."

"What are you talking about? I haven't performed anything!"

"Oh, sweet Valerie, that's where you're wrong." My breathing hitched when Sideways stepped forward, bringing his face up close so that it was right in front of me (and preventing me from being able to look away) and placed a large finger on the side of the helmet I was wearing. "Everything went exactly as I planned and your acting surpassed the point of being genuine. You did everything I hoped you'd do and more."

"You're not making any sense! What the hell are you talking about?_!_"

"For someone as smart as you I'm surprised you haven't figured it out. It's a shame seeing as that Autobot managed to figure it out, but then again he wasn't as heavily exposed to my manipulation as you've been."

My eyes widened as I started to realize what Sideways was telling me!

"You've been manipulating me?_! _How could you do that when-!_!_!"

"I wasn't around? You're forgetting who I am, sweet Valerie. I've been around the whole time, and I didn't even have to be there physically. All those times I've talked to you enabled me to expose you to my manipulation so gradually that even you didn't notice. What's more perfect than manipulating a pawn that doesn't even realize they're being manipulated in the first place, especially when it involves manipulating the direction of that pawn's very thoughts and emotions to suit my plans?"

I was shocked at this revelation, but then that shock turned to anger that even surprised me. I was never usually one to get angry like this, but after what I just learned I believe the anger I felt was completely justified.

"You slagging pit-spawn virus! I can't believe you not only manipulated me, but my own emotions and thoughts as well! You not only toyed with me, but with Jetfire as well!"

"I see that you're vocabulary has expanded, no thanks to your sparkmate. But as I've already stated, the perfect pawn is the one that doesn't even realize they're being manipulated. Not even Jetfire realized what was going on until it was too late and he even rushed to retrieve you and the others. Just seeing his reaction to learning I took you was more than priceless, even when he was taking it to the same extent as when his mother died."

"But why me? Why choose me when you could've picked someone else?" I demanded.

"True, I could've picked anyone from that backwater planet, but you happen to be special."

"Because I happen to be the sparkmate of a Cybertronian?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"That factor is merely a bonus, but a factor nonetheless. The main factor is your fear. I'm surprised you've already forgotten the little trip you took to 70,000 years into the past."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Jetfire followed Optimus as the Autobots (and the kids with their Mini-Con partners) filed into the hallway with other Autobot and Decepticon soldiers lined up against the walls on both sides. Waiting for them in the middle of the hallway was Galvatron, along with Demolishor, Cyclonus, and Tidal Wave.

"I don't like this, Fred." Billy said nervously, looking around.

"And I wish I went to the bathroom." Fred replied.

Optimus came to a stop in front of Galvatron and all was quiet as everyone waited to see what would happen next. Jetfire couldn't help but feeling somewhat anxious as he watched Galvatron. He could still remember what the Decepticon Leader did the Valerie after having argued with his sparkmate. The memory of his mother suddenly invaded his thoughts as he was reminded of how she died.

'_Stop it! Now isn't the time to be thinking of Mom._' He told himself. '_I need to focus on the here and now._'

Jetfire was relieved when Optimus and Galvatron grasped each other's servo and he knew that an alliance between the Autobots and the Decepticons had been established.

"To unity!" Everyone declared.

"You know guys, I never thought I'd see this happen. The two of them shaking hands." Rad said. "Just standing here in front of the Decepticons, watching this is like some kind of weird dream."

Alexis closed her eyes as she tried to hold back the tears that formed in her eyes.

"Hey, are you all right, Alexis?" Carlos asked, turning to face her.

"Yeah. I was just thinking about Starscream." Alexis replied, trying not to cry. "You know, he sure would have loved to see all this happen between them. After all, it was kind of his last request."

"Well, I got a feeling he knows." Rad stated.

Jetfire felt sad when he overheard what Alexis said. He understood what she was feeling and knew what she was going through. It also didn't help that he had been there when Starscream was killed. His thoughts were interrupted when he saw High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor combine into Perceptor and jumped up to place their tiny servos on top of Optimus' and Galvatron's.

"With this historic handshake, I, Optimus Prime, pledge to both Autobots and Decepticons to fight together." The Autobot Leader declared. "We shall prevail to bring peace and harmony to the universe."

"And to annihilate Unicron!" Galvatron added, taking a step forward.

"Hey, put 'er there, brother." Hot Shot said, holding a servo out to Demolishor.

"Hmm..." Demolishor reluctantly grasped the yellow Autobot's servo. "I'm only doing this because I'm following Galvatron's order."

"Ha! I can't believe I'm fighting for _harmony_!" Cyclonus said, grasping Sideswipe's servo. "What a load of bunk! I'm a lean mean _fighting_ machine! Hahahaha!"

"I gotta work with this guy?" Sideswipe asked, feeling uncertain. "I'm not so sure about this."

"Hey, put it on _mute_, soldier. The one thing I can't stand is a smart-mouthed Autobot!"

"Tidal Wave..." The large Decepticon introduced as he shook Jetfire's servo, even though the shuttle mech knew who he was.

"Uh... Nice...meeting ya." He replied awkwardly.

'_Never thought I'd see the day that I had to shake servos with a Decepticon._' Jetfire thought.

_**(Later)**_

"It's time to get down to business, men!" Optimus declared, stepping forward

"All ships, destination: Unicron!" Galvatron added.

It was with that order that both Autobots, Decepticons, and their respective fleets followed their leaders towards Unicron's location.

"_Fire_!" Optimus and Galvatron ordered.

Everyone started firing at Unicron with blasters and cannons. Jetfire didn't bother to hold anything back at this point.

"Haha! Now this is more like it!" Cyclonus exclaimed excitedly. "Let's do some damage!"

"Hold your fire, men!" The Autobot leader ordered after awhile, due to the fact that they couldn't see Unicron at that moment.

"Hey! How come we _stopped_?"

"Take a look." Optimus pointed in Unicron's direction

"Huh?"

Everyone watched as the smoked cleared, only to be shocked when they saw that Unicron hadn't been damaged at all.

"Whoa! We didn't even _scratch_ it!" Jetfire stated, clearly shocked.

"We gave him everything we _had_!" Red Alert said.

"This is _nuts_!" Hoist commented.

"We have to re-think our strategy." Optimus said.

"Aw, _c'mon_! I say we _blast_ 'im with everything we _got_!" Cyclonus said.

"No! That would be a waste of time. First, we must find out where his weakness lies."

"Okay, soldiers, we'll form up a reconnaissance fleet." Galvatron ordered after turning to face the Decepticons.

Two Decepticon ships started flying towards Unicron, but to everyone's shock they were easily shot down!

"They can't get close enough, Optimus!" Hot Shot said.

"_Now_ what, sir?" Jetfire asked.

"I _told_ you! We have to keep _blasting_ 'im." Cyclonus whined, and did he sound like he was _pouting?_

"Hot Shot, Sideswipe!" Optimus said, turning to face the two. "I want you to take up the discovery pod."

"You want _what_?_!_" Sideswipe asked.

"Because the pods are small, I doubt Unicron's defense systems can detect them. Use stealth mode and get as close as you can. We have to find Unicron's weakest point."

"You _got_ it, sir!" Hot Shot replied.

"All right. Demolishor, Cyclonus, I want you both to get ready and head up with them." Galvatron ordered.

"Right!" Demolishor answered.

"Awww, I _never_ get to _do_ anything." Cyclonus complained

"Cyclonus!" Galvatron barked.

Cyclonus jumped slightly at this.

"Yessir, at your service, sir! Waaaahh! Errgh!" He glared over at Optimus. "Boy... This _isn't_ gonna work." He said to himself.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

At first I was confused by what Sideways was saying, but then I started trying to figure it out in my head. I did end up seeing Jetfire 70,000 years in the past while he was still mourning Astera's death—even talked to him. I then realized that because I talked to Jetfire at that time I unintentionally set things into motion for him. But that didn't explain how Sideways knew about that (unless he read my mind). He sounded like he had been there to observe the whole event all those years ago, yet the Jetfire of the past was the only one who could see and hear me.

'_Wait!_' I thought, realizing something else.

It was while I was trying to escape with my friends that Sideways was able to capture me, but weren't those tunnels actually inside of-!

A whole new level of fear got a hold of me, my eyes widening, from the sudden revelation. I wished desperately that I was wrong, but the evidence that I now noticed, how Sideways had managed to know so much, been able to easily manipulate me. It all pointed to the same answer.

"Y-you're Unicron…!" I said fearfully.

"So you finally figured it out. I'm impressed that you managed to do it this quickly."

I was horrified when the metal surface on Sideways started melting off his body like molten lava. My eyes widened in fear at the now skeletal appearance of Sideways who gazed at me with red optics. If I had thought his pink optics had been cold and cruel, then these red optics made the former seem like a warm summer's breeze. I did everything I could to suppress the scream I knew I would've let out, knowing that's what Sideways _wanted _me to do.

"W-what _are _you?" I choked out, unable to hide my fear.

"The one you know as 'Sideways' is merely an extension of my being, allowing me to interact with the universe on a more incognito level." Sideways explained, but his voice was completely different, like he was a completely different person. In fact, this voice that spoke to me sounded nothing like his usual voice, making me believe that this was the true voice of Unicron. "But that is irrelevant at this time, nor do you really need to know that in order to fulfill your purpose."

Suddenly he started getting closer until his face was so close that there was no way for me to look away.

"May your nightmares be filled with despair."

My body convulsed in response to the pain I suddenly felt, although the movement was restricted due to being bound.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Jetfire stood behind Red Alert as he, Optimus, and Galvatron observed what was on the console screen. The monitor was showing nothing but white flurries.

"Hmmm... No transmissions yet." Optimus said.

"Well maybe your cable connection is loose." Billy suggested from where he and the kids were standing in front of the monitor.

"Should we try wiggling it around?" Fred asked, sounding unsure.

Jetfire had to hold back a chuckle upon hearing that. Despite how much he liked Earth, their technology was somewhat primitive compared to Cybertronian technology.

"Unicron could be blocking the signal, Optimus-sir." Red Alert said.

"I'm detecting a faint pulse." Blurr suddenly announced, turning to face Optimus.

Everyone looked at the monitor as it displayed what Blurr found. What they saw surprised them.

"This is getting _freaky_!" Rad said.

"Unicron is coming to life." Optimus said.

Jetfire watched as Unicron closed his 'mouth' (he really couldn't think of anything else to call it) before continuing to shift as he transformed slowly.

"Let's open fire on him." Galvatron ordered. "This may be our only window of opportunity, Optimus."

"But we _can't_." Rad said, turning to face Galvatron. "Not while Hot Shot and the others are still up there."

"Don't interfere, humans." Galvatron said, looking down at the kids. "There are always casualties involved with war. Now let us get back to the business at _hand_, shall we?"

"You _can't_!" Alexis protested.

"Do you _mind_? I'm _busy_ here. I don't have _time_ for this. Now run along and _play_!" Jetfire could see that Galvatron was starting to get annoyed by the kids.

"That's enough, Galvatron." Optimus said calmly.

"Hmm." The Decepticon leader suddenly smirked before calming down. "All right, then. Dispatch a rescue ship to bring them _back_, Optimus." Optimus sighed at this. "How _strange_! _Listening_ to _humans_."

The kids merely laughed at this.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Suddenly the pain was gone and my eyes shot open to see why. What I saw confused me.

I was in a room of a house and found myself lying on my side in a really comfortable bed. Where am I? What's going on? Suddenly I felt something wrap around my waist from behind and I started to panic.

"Valerie, calm down! It's just me!"

I froze when I heard that familiar voice! It couldn't be…! Hesitantly I turned around and sure enough I found a pair of gold eyes gazing back at me in concern.

"J-Jetfire?" I asked, unsure if it was really him, that he was really here, and that this was all real. But that was also when I noticed my voice sounded different, like I was older. "W-what…what's going…?"

I couldn't really finish what I was trying to say, not because I was interrupted but more due to the fact that it was hard for me to comprehend what was happening. Jetfire did turn me around and pulled me close to himself as he tried to comfort me. But why?

"You had that nightmare again." He claimed.

"Nightmare?" I looked up confused. "What's going on? Where am I?"

Jetfire sighed, as if he was expecting this.

"We're here in our home, where it's safe. And it's been that way for the past 10 years." He explained.

What?_!_ 10 years? It couldn't be! That would mean I was 24! Sideways couldn't have been a Weeping Angel and sent me into the future while he (or Unicron) fed off my life energy-! Wait, Weeping Angels are supposed to send a person into the past, not the future.

"That can't be right!" I told him. "I was just with Sideways in that weird place and found out he's Unicron! What about your war?"

"That all happened 10 years ago, Valerie. Ever since we rescued you, you've been having reoccurring nightmares. I've had to explain this to you every morning because of that."

I was shocked by this. It had been a dream this whole time? Why couldn't I remember what happened from after what happened with Sideways? Maybe the trauma had really affected my memories or something. All that really mattered to me was that I was safe with Jetfire. I didn't have to live in fear of Sideways anymore.

"I'm going to get a shower." I told Jetfire, getting out of bed.

"Want me to join you?" He asked.

"N-no!" My face heated up.

Jetfire merely chuckled in response, but otherwise didn't say anything else. I quickly went into the bathroom and closed the door before turning to my left. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw a beautiful woman staring back at me with widened eyes as well. I raised my hand up so I could reach out to her, to which she did the same thing. And it was then that I realized that I was staring at my own reflection in a mirror. Was that…really me?

I turned away from the mirror so I could focus on getting a shower.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Jetfire could feel the ship shaking from the exploding chain reaction of the other ships being destroyed by Unicron. As worse of all, he was almost done transforming during this whole process!

"At this rate, they'll all be wiped out." Optimus said, turning to Galvatron.

"We _don't_ have any _choice_, Prime! We have to back down _now_!" Galvatron stated..

Optimus turned to face Blurr.

"Blurr, any word from Hot Shot?" He asked.

"Negative, sir. Nothing." Blurr replied.

"_**This is Hot Shot. Over**_." They suddenly heard over the ship's comm link.

"It's _him_!" Hoist exclaimed.

"Get your tail _back_ here!" Jetfire ordered.

"_**Well I'd love to, but the pod's kinda trashed.**_" Hot Shot told him."_**Huh?**_**!**"

Jetfire saw Optimus turn to face him.

"Jetfire... It's time." Optimus told him.

"Yessir." Jetfire replied.

With that both Optimus and Jetfire Powerlinked before flying off towards Unicron. The giant transformer tried to shoot them down, but Jet Optimus dodged out of the way in time before firing back. Jet Optimus continued to dodge Unicron's blasts as he searched for Hot Shot and the others, but luckily he didn't have to search for long. He found them, but they were surrounded by a bunch of tiny bots. He took this chance to take the tiny bots out.

"It's Optimus!" Hot Shot cried out.

"Are you men all right?" Optimus asked after taking out the last of the tiny bots.

"Well, we are now that _you're_ here, sir. Huh?" Hot Shot seemed to notice something. "Optimus, _behind_ you!"

"Huh?"

Optimus turned around to see another tiny bot about to fire at him, but before he could react another blast destroyed it. Optimus saw that it was Galvatron (who was Powerlinked with Tidal Wave) that did it.

"It's _Galvatron_!" Both Demolishor and Cyclonus said.

"I can't believe I just saved _Prime_!" Galvatron growled grabbing Demolishor and Cyclonus and flying off.

"You men ready?" Optimus asked, grabbing Hot Shot and Sideswipe as well.

"Let's do it!" Sideswipe said. As they all flew off Sideswipe turned to look behind them. "Optimus! Look over there!"

"Huh?"

Optimus turned to look behind them, only to be shocked when he saw that Unicron had just finished transforming. Red optics lit up to show that the giant transformer was very much aware of his surroundings.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

Sometime later I was showered and dressed before heading into the kitchen to make myself something to eat. Before I could open the fridge I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist from behind. I felt him nuzzle the crook of my neck and breathe in.

"You smell nice." Jetfire said, causing me to blush.

"That's because I took a shower." I replied.

"True, but that's not what I mean." I turned around so I could face him. "I'm referring to your natural scent, not the kind you get from soap or perfume. Just the scent that defines you."

"But wouldn't soap or perfume obscure a person's natural scent?"

"In a way, yes, but not enough to completely hide it. It just makes it a little harder to discern which is which."

So that explains why he said I smelled good.

"What do I smell like?" I asked.

"You smell sweet." He brought his face closer. "Very sweet."

He pulled me closer before kissing me, to which I eagerly responded in return. I wrapped my arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. All that mattered at this point was that I was safe and with Jetfire.

I gasped when I suddenly felt excruciating pain in my stomach. I looked down and was shocked to find that I had been stabbed with a kitchen knife, warm blood coming out of the fresh wound and sliding down the gleaming edge of the blade. I lifted my head to find Jetfire standing in front of me, but what took me by surprise was the expression on his face. It wasn't one of shock or worry like I had been expecting, but one of malicious intent. He smiled cruelly at me, merely watching me lose more blood as the seconds ticked by.

"…W…w-why…J…J-Jetfire…?" I asked, feeling betrayed by my own sparkmate. "…W-why did you-!"

I wasn't able to finish what I was saying before I fell to the wooden floor, my body getting weaker and my legs unable to support me. I let out a pained gasped as the knife dug deeper into my stomach from the way I landed. It hurt! I don't recall ever being in so much pain before! Why would he do this to me? The Jetfire I knew would've never dreamed of hurting me like this! My vision started to slowly fade as I watched Jetfire kneel down before me, the cruel smile still remaining on his face.

"Welcome to your nightmare." He told me, his voice sounding dark and sinister. "Although you won't be enjoying it for much longer."

It was at that point that everything went dark.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 

It was right after they got back to the Axalon and Jetfire had separated from Optimus that he felt pain explode within his spark. He fell to the floor on his knees while clutching the area covering his spark chamber, breathing heavily as he struggled with the pain. It felt like his spark was being ripped out of his spark chamber, torn to pieces, and then being placed back in with the addition of a huge void being where something important was supposed to be. And the worst part was that he _knew _what that _something important_ was!

"Jetfire!" He heard Optimus cry out before he approached him. "What's wrong?"

Jetfire did his best to hold back the energon tears that were starting to well up in the corner of his optics before weakly lifting his helm up to look at Optimus.

"I…I felt her pain… For just a second…I _felt_ her pain…! B-But…!" At this point Jetfire was glad that no one else was around since he was no longer able to hold back his tears, his throat tightening in the process. "Optimus…! S-She's gone… Not just her _presence_…her _life_…!"

Optimus gasped at this.

"Jetfire! You don't mean…?"

Jetfire nodded sadly.

"Valerie's been _offlined_." Jetfire choked out, the grief starting to catch up with him. "And I haven't even _bonded_ with her yet."

* * *

ATE: Well, that wraps that up! I bet you all weren't expecting _that_ to happen! As for what the form Sideways took looked like, here's a link to it (without the spaces and brackets):

_**[H t t p]: / / tf wiki [. n e t] /media wiki/ images 2/c /c3 /Double face _nano_ concept sketch . jp g**_

The thing about the image is that it was originally a concept sketch (WHICH I DON'T OWN IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM) that "show[ed] a 'skeletonized' version of Sideways associated" with the trans-phase mode that he tends to use (when he's the cloud of flurried nanos), but in the end it was ultimately never used in the show. And I can honestly see why it wasn't used as well. But at least I got to incorporate it into TDATS since I thought it would've made things interesting. I used my imagination when it came to this form's coloration.

Thanks for reading and please remember to review! ;D


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